Bantu beliefs and magic

JUN ] 9 1925

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BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

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KITUI

A KAMBA CHIEF.

BANTU BELIEFS
AND MAGIC

WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE KIKUYU
AND KAMBA TRIBES OF KENYA COLONY; TO-
GETHER WITH SOME REFLECTIONS ON EAST
AFRICA AFTER THE WAR

BY

C. W. HOBLEY, c.M.G.

M .R. Anthrop.Inst., C.M.Z.S., Assoc.M.Inst.C.E.
( Late Senior Provincial Commissioner, Kenya Colony )

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
SIR JAMES G. FRAZER, F.R.S., &c.

LONDON

H. F. & G. WITHERBY

326 HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.

' 1

1922

PREFACE

It is often said that the longer one knows the native
the less one knows, and the less one understands him.
This expression is doubtless comforting to persons who
have not the patience to systematically study him and
his views on life, but it could with convenience be
replaced by a saying to the effect that the more one
knows of the native the more one realises how much
remains to be learnt.

The spirit of this is in accordance with the true
attitude to all other branches of knowledge, for the
more one learns, the more the map unfolds, and one
gradually realises the vastness of the country to be
explored.

During long years of service in East Africa my
work has brought me into close contact with the native
tribes from Lake Victoria to the coast, and I early
realised that their administration could not be intelli-
gently conducted without close inquiry into their social
organisation and religious beliefs, and in this
connection I would here like to express my indebted-
ness to the kind advice and stimulating assistance which
I have received from Sir W. Ridgeway, Sir J. G. Frazer,
Professor Haddon and others, I particularly wish to
thank Sir J. G. Frazer for his kindness in consenting to
write an introduction to this work.

My first researches in this field were conducted
among the tribes of Kavirondo, and when some years
later I left the Nyanza province for Ukamba I became
interested in the people with whom this work mainly
deals.

8

4 PREFACE

In 1910 I published a small work styled “ The
Ethnology of the A-Kamba and Other East African
Tribes ” which was mainly intended as an aide memoir e
for colleagues working among the people referred to ;
the study was continued and certain matters were dealt
with in papers communicated to the Royal Anthropo-
logical Institute and the British Association.

Further research has, however, brought to light a
great deal of additional material and has enabled me
to piece together the work, and I venture to believe
that the light which it attempts to throw upon the inner
life of these important tribes may stimulate further
inquiry, and help both official and colonist in his
relations with them.

It has long been the fashion to look upon such
research as being of only academic value; this view,
however, is year by year becoming dimmer, and I would
ask all those who are interested in Africa to abandon it.

The late war has forcibly demonstrated the import-
ance of understanding the psychology of our enemies,
and if that is admitted I would claim that it is quite as
important for workers in Africa to endeavour to under-
stand the psychology of the Africans, whose friendship
is of vital necessity to all progress in that country.

In presenting this work to the public, I would like
to emphasise the belief that the field is by no means
exhausted ; all that I have been able to do has been
done amidst the insistent rush of official duties, and I
have often longed for the chance of being able
to concentrate my attention for a year or two solely on
researches of this nature.

The language difficulty is one of the greatest
obstacles with which a European is faced; native
languages are numerous and an administrative officer
rarely has time to learn one before he is removed to
another area and therefore another language. The
elders rarely know much Swahili, the language which
is the lingua franca of East Africa. Interpreters are
often a snare, and an investigator has to work with one

PREFACE 5

for some time before being certain that he has fully
realised the spirit of the research, especially when
dealing with religious beliefs : indeed many inter-
preters never grasp the spirit of the inquiry. I had
working with me for some years a remarkable
interpreter — Juma bin Hamis — who became deeply
interested in the subject under investigation, and was
of the greatest assistance. When any point was
obscure he would go off and unearth an elder who was
known to have particular information on the point at
issue. Unfortunately, however, I have to mourn his
loss, for he died at Nairobi in 1911. Such a man is
difficult to replace ; his speciality was Kikuyu political
organisation and customs, and, although a coast native,
he was deeply esteemed by all the people of Southern
Kikuyu.

I would here like to express my indebtedness to
several of my colleagues and friends, particularly the
Hon. C. Dundas, G. H. Osborne, and the late
S. W. J. Scholefield, who, living for a long time in the
native reserves of Kikuyu and Ukamba in close contact
with the people, have given me the greatest assistance
upon special points. I am also grateful to Miss du
Cros for her kind assistance in revising the MSS. of
this work.

With the Hon. C. Dundas’s permission, I have
inserted an interesting memorandum by him on Kikuyu
dances and certain magical phenomena. He collected
the information while in charge of the Kikuyu district.

I also express my gratitude to the many elders who
have so fully given me information about many
customs and rites which they do not care to discuss
with the man in the street. The Kikuyu in particular
welcomed my interest in their beliefs. They even
urged me to become a recognised elder of the tribe, so
that they could impart full information without viola-
tion of the rules forbidding the divulging of the
ceremonial of their grade to those not initiated to that
grade. This election has been of great value, for

6 PREFACE

recognition as an elder in Kikuyu franks one, so to
speak, among the Kamba, and the elders of that
reticent tribe talked freely to me on their rites and
beliefs.

Finally I must express my indebtedness to
Professor Robertson Smith’s illuminating work on the
“ Religion of the Semites,” and to Campbell Thomp-
son’s book on “ Semitic Magic.” I have referred to
these from time to time, as they throw light upon the
principles underlying many of the African ceremonies
which I describe.

Any description of the languages spoken by the
tribes under review being outside the scope of this work,
it has been considered inadvisable to complicate it by
the adoption of the modern system of phonetic symbols
in the native names. The use of the symbols, though
based on sound principles, unfortunately renders
unintelligible to the ordinary reader many native words.

As the war has occurred since the bulk of this work
was written, I have considered that it might not be out
of place to add a chapter of a general nature dealing
with the position of native affairs after the great
upheaval, for Africa has not escaped its effects any
more than other parts of the world, and the future of the
relations of black and white needs most thoughtful
consideration.

C. W. H.

INTRODUCTION

The author of this book, Mr C. W. Hobley, has long
been known to anthropologists as one of our best
authorities on the native races of British East Africa,
or Kenya Colony, as it is now called, where he resided
as Provincial Commissioner for many years. The time
he could spare from his official duties he wisely devoted
to studying the customs and beliefs of the tribes whom
he was appointed to govern, and through the knowledge
and experience thus acquired he was able to make a
valuable series of contributions to ethnography. In
the present work he has resumed and largely supple-
mented his former studies of two important tribes, the
Kikuyu and Kamba, enriching his previous accounts
with many fresh details and fruitful observations.

The result is a monograph replete with information
of great variety and of the highest interest for the
student of savage thought and institutions. But the
book has a practical as well as a scientific value. Placed
in the hands of British officials engaged in the mainten-
ance of order and the administration of justice among
the natives, it must prove of real service to them in
their task of affording them an insight into the habits
and ideas of the people, and thus greatly facilitating
the task of government. Indeed, without some such
knowledge of the native’s point of view it is impossible
to govern him wisely and well. The savage way of
thinking is very different to ours, and Mr Hobley is
right in insisting that it is by no means simple, but, on
the contrary, highly complex, and that, consequently,
it cannot be understood without long and patient study.
To legislate for savages on European principles of law

7

8 INTRODUCTION

and morality, even when the legislator is inspired by
none but the most benevolent intentions, is always
dangerous, and not seldom disastrous ; for it is too often
forgotten that native customs have grown up through
a long course of experience and adaptation to natural
surroundings, that they correspond to notions and
beliefs which, whether ill or well founded, are deeply
rooted in the native mind, and that the attempt to dis-
card them for others which have been developed under
totally different conditions may injure instead of bene-
fiting the people. Even when the new rules and habits,
which government seeks to force upon the tribes, are
in themselves, abstractly considered, better than the
old, they may not be so well adapted to the mental
framework of the governed, and the consequence may
be that the old moral restraints are abolished without
the substitution of any equally effective in their room.
To this danger Mr Hobley is fully alive, and he gives
a timely warning on the subject to those well-meaning
but ill-informed persons at home who would treat the
native African in accordance with the latest political
shibboleths of democratic Europe. Such treatment,
which its ignorant advocates seem to regard as a
panacea for all human ills, would almost inevitably
produce an effect precisely the opposite of that in-
tended : instead of accelerating the progress of the
natives, it would probably precipitate their moral,
social, and even physical decline. In practical life
few things are so dangerous as abstract ideas, and the
indiscriminate application of them to concrete realities
is one of the most fatal weapons in the hands of the
moral or political revolutionary.

Among the mass of interesting topics dealt with in
Mr Hobley’s book it is difficult to single out any for
special mention in an introduction. The subjects to
which, on the whole, he has paid closest attention are
natural religion and magic. In respect of religion the
author again and again notes the remarkable similar-
ities which may be traced between East African and

INTRODUCTION 9

Semitic beliefs and rites, and he raises the question how
these similarities are to be explained. Are they due to
parallel and independent development in the African
and the Semitic races ? Or are they the consequence
of the invasion of Africa either by a Semitic people
or at all events by a people imbued with the principles
of Semitic religion. In my book “ Folk-lore in the
Old Testament I had been similarly struck by some
of these resemblances, and, while abstaining from
speculation on their origin, had remarked that the
hypothesis of derivation from a common source was not
to be lightly rejected. On the other hand Mr Hobley
thinks it safer, in the present state of our knowledge,
to assume that the resemblances in question have
arisen independently, through parallel development,
in the African and Semitic areas. He dismisses as
highly improbable the idea that the ancient Semitic
beliefs should have originated in East Africa and
spread from there to Arabia. Yet recent investigations
in this part of Africa, particularly with regard to the
native veins of iron and gold, tend in the opinion of
some competent inquirers to show that East Central
Africa, including the region of the great lakes, was an
extremely ancient seat of a rudimentary civilisation,
the seeds of which may have been carried, whether by
migration or the contact of peoples, to remote parts of
Europe and Asia. In regard to iron, which has been
wrought in Central Africa from time immemorial, Mr
Hobley quotes Professor Gregory who thinks it prob-
able that the art of forging the metal was invented in
tropical Africa at a date before Europe had attained
to the discovery and manufacture of bronze; he even
suggests that the ingenious smith who first fused tin
and copper into bronze may have borrowed the hint
from the process of working iron which he had learned
in Africa.

Among the many curious superstitions recorded by

* Vol. II. pp. 4 et seq.

10 INTRODUCTION

Mr Hobley none is perhaps more interesting and
suggestive than by the name of thahu or thabu, and
which presents points of similarity to the Polynesian
taboo. Mr Hobley thinks that the idea involved in it
is best expressed by the English term “ curse.” But
to this it may be objected that a curse implies a personal
agent, human or divine, who has called down some evil
on the sufferer; whereas in many, indeed in most, of
the cases enumerated by Mr Hobley there is no sugges-
tion of such an agent, and the evil which befalls the
sufferer is the direct consequence of his own action or
of a simple accident. Thus it would seem that “ cere-
monial uncleanness ” answers better to the meaning of
thahu than “ curse.” Be that as it may, deliberate
cursing apparently plays a prominent part in the super-
stition of the Kikuyu and Kamba ; but it is significant
that they give it a different name {kirume, kiume) from
that which they apply to ceremonial uncleanness.
Great faith is put in the effectiveness of curses, especi-
ally the curses of dying persons; and as these latter
curses often refer to the disposal of the dying man’s
property after his death and are intended to prevent the
alienation of land from the family, Mr Hobley is led
to make the ingenious suggestion that in some curses
we may detect the origin of entail and of testamentary
dispositions in general.

Not a few of the customs and beliefs described by
Mr Hobley remind us of similar practices and ideas in
the religion and mythology of classical antiquity. Thus
the warriors who, armed with swords and clubs, dance
or hop from foot to foot at the time when the mawele
grain is reaped, are curiously reminiscent of the Roman
Salii, the dancing or leaping priests of the war-god
Mars, who, similarly accoutred with swords and staves,
danced or leaped, while they invoked Saturn, the God
of Sowing. Again, the strange sort of madness which
from time to time seizes on Kamba women and under
the influence of which, wrought up to a state of frenzy,
they caper about with cow’s tails suspended from their

INTRODUCTION 11

arms, offers a parallel to the Greek legend of the
daughters of Proetus and the other Argive women, who,
oddly enough, were said like their African sisters to
have been healed of their infirmity by dances and the
sacrifice of cattle.^ The study of such hysterical and
infectious manias among primitive peoples opens up
an interesting field of inquiry to the psychologist.

Such are a few specimens culled from the rich
collection of East African folk-lore and religion which
the author has presented to his readers in this volume.
The facts recorded by him provide much food for
thought and suggest many lines of investigation for
inquiries in the future. For, as he reminds us, with
equal truth and modesty, the field of inquiry is far
from being exhausted. Let us hope that it will yet
yield an abundant harvest to others, who will follow in
Mr Hobley’s footsteps and imitate the example he has
set them of patient and open-minded research.

J. G. FRAZER.

* Apollodorus, The Library, 11. 2, 2, with my notes.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface ...... 3

Introduction ..... 7

PART I

NATURAL RELIGION

Introductory . . . . .19

CHAP.

1. Spirit Beliefs . . . . •

II. Sacrifice . . . . .40

III. Sacred Stones or Village Shrines . 69

IV. The Firstfruits of Harvest and Plant-

ing Ceremonial . . . -73

V. Circumcision Ceremonial . . -77

^ VI. Death and Burial Ceremonial . . 97

VII. The Curse and its Manifestations —

(a) THAHU AND ITS CONNECTION WITH

circumcision rites, ETC. . 103

{b) PURIFICATION AND BLESSING . 134

(c) THE DYING CURSE . . -145

VIII. Superstitions regarding Children and

Women . . . . .154

13

14

CONTENTS

PART II

MAGIC

CHAP. PAGE

Introductory . . . . -165

I. The Guild of Smiths in Kikuyu and

Ukamba ..... 167

II. The Evil Eye . . . . -177

III. Kikuyu Magic and Magicians . . 184

IV. Miscellaneous Magical Practices . 192

PART III

MISCELLANEOUS

CHAP.

Introductory ..... 207

I. The Constitution and Working of

Councils ..... 209

II. Laws of Compensation for Murder . 230

III. Ceremonial Oaths .... 239

IV. War and Peace .... 244

V. Miscellaneous Customs and Beliefs . 250

VI. Legends ...... 262

VII. Dances ...... 266

VIII. Women as Factor in Tribal Organisation 274

IX. Some General Remarks . . . 281

X. East Africa after the War . . 286

L’Envoi ...... 303

GLOSi^ARY ... . . 305

Index ...... 309

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Kamba Chief, Kitui

PAGE

Frontispiece

Typical Muthuri ya
(Elder of Grade of

Ukuru

Priest)

Facing

37

Kikuyu Muthuri or

(Prognathous Type)

Elder

• • >J

65

Scenes at Mambura (Circumcision Festival)

(1) SUGAR CANES OVER VILLAGE GATES

(2) EATING CEREMONIAL FOOD .

(Photos by A. C. Hollis)

CLIMBING THE “ MUGUMU,” FIG TREE „ 87

(Photo by A. C. Hollis)

Kikuyu Circumcision Feast

(1) MALE candidates .

(2) FEMALE CANDIDATES

A Dorobo Elder, Torori .

(Photo by T. A. Dickson)

• 1 1

183

Kamba Elder with Kithito

• >>

241

Kikuyu—Beehive Marks on Trees .

(Woodcut in Text)

• >5

254

Kivata Dance at Kyambu, Kikuyu .
(Photo by Hon. C. Dundas)

* M

267

Kikuyu Circumcision Shield with Anthro-
pomorphic Figures ....
Kikuyu Methods of carrying the circum-
cision Shield

(The young men parade the country with these some
weeks before the ceremony)

15

PART I

NATURAL RELIGION

INTRODUCTORY

The main objects of this work are to place on record
the results of investigations made among the native
tribes in British East Africa, particularly among the
Kikuyu and Kamba people, and to endeavour, from a
Study of their ceremonial with regard to sacrifice and
taboo, to obtain a better insight into the principles
which underlie the outward forms and ceremonies of
their ritual.

It has long been customary, partly through narrow-
minded prejudice and partly through ignorance, to class
as Pagans all native tribes which have not yet embraced
one of the great positive religions, such as Christianity
or Mohammedanism. But the time has now come
when such negative definitions, if seriously applied, will
have to be abandoned. It must be admitted that all
savages have a natural religion which is a survival of,
and is analogous to, a stage of belief which existed
among the ancestors of the civilised peoples of the
present day. The admission is inevitable, however
distasteful to those who are dogmatic in their religious
beliefs and loath to admit that religious thought and the
conception of a deity have passed through an evolution-
ary process and, furthermore, a process which has not
ceased. For, after all, the development of mental and
moral ideas is a part of the evolution of the living being
as much as the development of limbs, cranial shape,
or body markings. No positive system of religion
descended from heaven as a completely new concept
of the deity and with an absolutely novel code. Such
a system could never have survived. Any new
religious teacher could not fail to be, to a great extent, a

19

20 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

creature of his environment and of the age in which he
was born. He must necessarily graft his scheme on to
what went before. As Robertson Smith so truly says,
“ a new scheme of faith can only find a hearing by
appealing to religious instincts and susceptibilities that
already exist in the audience.”

In East Africa, various tribes remain in a stage of
belief very similar to that which prevailed in Arabia
and Assyria from about 1500 b.c. and onward, and
which continued till a dogmatic uniformity was forced
on the bulk of the people by the teachings of Mahomed
about A.D. 650.

Asiatic beliefs were introduced to Abyssinia by the
Sabseans or Himyaritic invaders a few centuries before
the Christian era, but it is doubtful whether they spread
to any extent. For ancient religious influences on
Central Africa, we must look more to the channel
afforded by the Nile valley which had become a route
of exploration as far back as the time of the Pharaohs.
Although, however, we know that Egyptian influence
was spasmodically exercised for a long distance up the
Nile valley, little evidence of any spiritual effect has as
yet come to light. This is natural, for the ancient
expeditions were at long intervals and were not mission-
ary enterprises, but were in search of material gain.

The only case of permanent settlement which
appears to be beyond doubt is the invasion into Uganda,
Unyoro, and Ankole, of a light coloured race, now
known as the Ba-Hima or Ba-Huma. Some consider
that these people came from the Abyssinian highlands ;
Sir Harry Johnston, on the other hand, believes them
to be descendants of ancient Egyptian settlers ; accord-
ing to Dr Seligman they are probably descendants of
what he terms Proto-Egyptians — the latter description
being a more concrete definition based upon careful
researches in the Nile valley, the result of which was
not available when Sir H. H. Johnston made his
suggestion.

But whatever the origin of the Ba-Hima, there

INTRODUCTORY 21

appears to be no trace of this infusion of northern blood
anywhere east of the Rift Valley, except, possibly,
among the Masai who are believed to have migrated
south-east from the valley of the Upper Nile. The
Nandi, the Lako and Savei of Elgon, the Lumbwa and
Elgeyo also came from the north-west, but did not cross
the Rift.

The Kikuyu absorbed some Masai blood from time
to time, and also intermixed to some extent with
the aboriginal Oggiek, but they are mainly Bantu in
blood and constitution. The Kamba people, whose
ancestors flowed into their present habitat from the
south and south-west, are believed to be pure Bantu.

We have, therefore, no evidence as to where the
ancestors of the Kikuyu or Kamba lived about two
thousand years ago, and, further, whether they were
affected by Semitic culture in remote times.

It is, moreover, highly improbable that the ancient
Semitic beliefs should have originated in East Africa.
We must, therefore, decide whether such similarity as
we find to-day is merely a case of parallel and uncon-
nected development, or the result of an ancient invasion
of a Semitic race or possibly of a race which had adopted
Semitic beliefs. In the present state of knowledge it
will be safer to assume that this similarity is due to
parallel development, many examples of which may be
found in other parts of the world.

It is, however, necessary to make it clear that if there
should have been any Semitic influence it cannot have
been derived from the Arab settlements on the East
Coast of Africa, founded during the last few hundred
years. Their political hold of the country never
extended much beyond the tidal waters, and their only
social influence was the slight one exercised at inter-
mittent intervals by a slave raiding or ivory trading
expedition. No ancient trace of Mohammedanism can
be found among the people under consideration, and
their present stage of culture is pre-Islamic in point
of time.

22 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The religious beliefs of the tribes of Kikuyu and
Ukamba generally consist of a rudimentary conception
of a high god, corresponding more or less to the old
Hebrew concept of Jahveh. To the bulk of the
peasantry this idea is naturally very vague and practi-
cally subconscious. But the elders of what may be
termed the “ high place ” are believed to have a clear
conception of it, and their deity is apparently of the
kind which can be influenced and appeased by material
attentions. The belief in ancestral spirits — ngoma or
aiimu — is the predominating spiritual factor in the
minds of the great majority of the people. These are
ever present, and the relations between men and spirits
are in accordance with the actual patriarchal state of
society. The spirits must not be ignored, for are they
not of the blood kin ? If neglected, they will be angry
and punish their children. But naturally no rancour is
felt when such punishments are inflicted. There is a
total absence of religious intolerance about this cult;
failure to worship or failure to contribute to a sacrifice
brings its own retribution, and the spirits are swift in
detecting a delinquent.

These spirits are not necessarily evil, but there is
little doubt that the character of the spirit is believed to
reflect to some extent the character of the person from
whom it came, and the power of the spirit is intimately
connected with the position of the person in the tribe.
This explains to some extent why an ordinary person is
cast out at death, whereas an elder, qualified to take
part in sacrificial ceremonies, receives burial. The
burial is probably pleasing to the spirit, and the spirit
of an elder possesses more power than that of an
uninitiated common person. All spirits, however,
appear to be relentless and malignant when neglected,
and remain so until they are appeased. At times they
are said to assist their clients, and, through a suitable
medium, to warn the people of an impending raid.

In old Semitic records the evil spirits or jinn loom
very large ; they are usually referred to as devils in the

INTRODUCTORY 23

Old Testament. They have no continuous or fixed
personal relations with mankind, but have their own
particular haunts in desert places, caves, and so forth.
They are, so to speak, outlaws ; they appear to man
either in human or animal form, and if one is killed, a
solid carcase is believed to remain. Among the ancient
Semites, the belief became very elaborate and survives
to this day in out-of-the-way places. These unwhole-
some creatures were even classified more or less
I definitely as jinni, ghouls, mared, lilith, sedim, and so
i forth.

I Among our African tribes this cult, however, has
1 fortunately not developed to any great extent. It may,
of course, have been forgotten, or it may have dis-
appeared, but there are still a few traces of it left. A
Kamba story, for instance, tells of two girls who took
shelter in a cave during a storm. A centipede came in
while they were there and the girls threw it outside.
But the centipede was an evil spirit and revenged itself
by closing up the entrance to the cave, so that the
girls were starved to death. This story might have
come straight from Central Arabia and be that of a
jinni, the sedim of the Talmud, who were supposed to
assume any form they wished. The deity or the
ancestral spirit is appeased by m^eans of sacrifice or
libations, carried out either privately or communally
according to the circumstances. A considerable
amount of detailed information concerning these has
been collected, which it may be interesting to compare
with similar practices described in the Old Testament
and other ancient literature.

The aiimu ya Kitombo referred to in “ Ethnology
of the A-Kamba ” (p. 89), and the unnatural creature
said to be seen at Manyani (p. 87, of. dt.), should also
very probably be placed in this class.

The widespread prevalence of “ taboo ” among
these tribes is very surprising, as it is a subject which
is rarely mentioned and certainly never openly dis-
cussed. It has, nevertheless, reached a pitch of con-

24 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

siderable elaboration. The reason for many of the
prohibitions is obvious, but that of others is extremely
obscure.

The tribes under review have a very definite idea
of prayer. Their appeals to the deity take place
regularly at the sacred place, either on the occasion of
sacrifice or when pouring out libations to the spirits.
Examples of these are given later. This form of
supplication is probably much more common than we
are inclined to think. But it is no easy matter to induce
people to give a definite enumeration of minor rites
which they perform constantly and as a matter of course.
The A-Kamba, for instance, when on a journey, and
when leaving a spot where they have camped, throw a
firebrand on their path and pray that the party should
reach its destination in safety and proceed together in
amity. This is done by the head of the party, the next
man throwing a few leaves on the firebrand and stepping
on it. It is a pretty custom, although a European of
the present day might consider it a somewhat strenuous
method of expressing gratitude ! But when people are
constantly travelling through parts of a country infested
with lions, and when their only protection from wild
animals is a small camp fire, one can perhaps understand
that they should think it advisable to keep on the right
side of the deity.

At Kikuyu, a man was once seized with a sudden fit.
When he recovered consciousness, he was given a little
water. Before drinking it, he promptly poured a few
drops in front of him, then on his right side, then on
his left. This was meant as a kind of silent prayer of
thanksgiving for recovery. He stated that it was his
muungu who had attacked him thus.

Charms are also very common. Many of them are
in the nature of sympathetic magic, whilst others are
merely a form of perpetual prayer, or rather, of material-
ised prayers. A German missionary, named Brutzer,
gives a good example, and describes the charms worn
by a Kamba friend ; one was worn round his neck to

INTRODUCTORY 25

protect him against witchcraft in general ; on his wrist
was a bracelet containing a charm which would warn
him should there be poison in any beer which might be
offered to him ; if his hand shook on raising the gourd
to his lips, it would be a sign of poison. From his
elbow two pieces of wood were suspended to protect
him from snake bites. And hanging from his waist
was a chain to ensure riches.

There are also charms against infection; these are
carried by a man when visiting a sick friend. There
are charms worn when going to war, charms worn
when love-making, to ensure the return of affection.
The charms usually consist of powdered wood, roots
and herbs. The advice of a medicine man is sought
and he recommends a certain plant or tree. Grain
is taken to the plant or tree indicated, and six times
a single grain is thrown at the tree, the remainder of
the grain being thrown the seventh time only. This
possibly signifies a sacrifice to the spirit of the tree.
The plant is then dug up, or a piece of wood cut off the
root of the tree and dried and powdered. Sometimes a
firebrand and water are taken to the tree ; in this case,
the water is placed on the ground, and the supplicant,
closing his eyes, walks six times round the tree, then
stands under it, facing east, and prays, with eyes still
closed : “ Tree, I have a favour to ask— -I have a sick
child or wife or brother ” — as the case may be- — “ and
know not the origin of his sickness, as he has no
trouble with anyone. I come to ask a favour. I come
to you, O Tree, to treat him for it that he may be
cured.”

According to some of the missionaries, the natives
believe that the fate of each individual from birth to
death is decided beforehand; they believe, in fact, in
predestination. I myself have discovered no trace of
this. A native will sometimes say of a bad character,
“ Oh, he was born a bad lot,” but this seems to me too
vague a statement to serve as the basis of a theory.
Conscience does not loom very large as a rule. The

26 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Reverend Hoffman, who lived for many years in Kitui,
however, quotes a saying which undoubtedly shows that
the natives have some faint notion of the meaning of
it : “ Aka nwa Engai ” or “ God will find him.” Thus
do the Kamba refer to an evil-doer.

The Kamba account of creation is very vague.
The first man is said to have been produced by the high
god Engai out of an ant-hill by the sea, and from him
all men are descended. He is referred to as imuuma
ndi (he who came out of the earth).

According to the Reverend Hoffman, there is a
saying that “ the bird was created on the fifth day, and
the imundu mwei on the sixth day.” No further
explanation of this curious saying is given. The
ordinary meaning of mundu mwei is “ man of power
or wisdom,” and it is used of the medicine man. But
in the saying above quoted, it probably refers to man-
kind generically as opposed to other animals.

Generally speaking, the tribes under consideration
attribute the existence of the world and of its
inhabitants to creation by Engai. Very little abstract
spirituality is to be found in their religion. Almost
everything is concrete, and, according to their point of
view, strictly logical. The same is probably true of all
religions appertaining to human beings on a similar
plane of culture.

This aspect of religion is a great snare to the
European student. Being the product of a far more
complex environment and having been brought up
under the influence of religions of a higher type, he
finds it extremely difficult to avoid either reading more
into a ceremony than actually exists, or, on the other
hand, he is apt to overlook some apparently trivial
point which may be of deep significance to the
worshipper.

CHAPTER I

SPIRIT BELIEFS

Ancestral Sfirits.-—T\iQ belief in the vitality of the
ancestral spirits is very strong among both the Kikuyu
and the Kamba peoples; the former call them N goma
and the latter Aiimu (singular I mu). The A-Kamba
declare that the life breath ngo becomes the I mu.
Curiously enough, the disembodied spirit was called
Edimmu by the ancient Assyrians (according to R. C.
Thompson in “ Semitic Magic ”), and they also
believed that the soul could return to earth and that
ghosts were responsible for many body ills.

Under ordinary circumstances, when a person
died and was duly buried his soul entered the under-
world, “ the house of darkness, the seat of the god
Ifkalla, the house from which none come forth again.”
This would seem to correspond to the Sheol of the
Hebrews.

The Assyrian word Edimmu (the root of which
is immu) is practically identical with the Kamba word
for the same conception, but there is no evidence to
show that the identity is anything but accidental.

The belief in the ancestral spirit is merely a form
of the belief in a soul, with the difference that the
present-day religions of the civilised world would not
admit that the spirits of the departed could interfere
with the life of man. We still find traces of this
belief in Europe in the Feast of All Souls, and in
curious ceremonies which take place in some countries
on St John’s Eve.

27

28 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The Yezidis of Mesopotamia believe that the
spirits of the good inhabit the air, whilst the Kikuyu
believe that the ancestral spirits live underground,
and the Kamba that they inhabit certain sacred fig
trees. This latter belief would seem to be particu-
larly widespread. It is prevalent all over India,
and examples of it are to be found at most places
along the east coast of Africa.

The Kikuyu will tell you that there is only one
ngoma or spirit for each person, and that women as
well as men possess it. Cattle are said to have no
ngoma, but sometimes they may become possessed
with that of human beings, and an evil spirit will
now and again enter their body in the hope of
destroying the poor beast. An animal so possessed
is easily recognised by its peculiar behaviour ; it goes
about shaking its head, and tears stream from its
eyes. This spirit may be of the same nature as the
evil demons of Semitic mythology. The Kikuyu
declare that it can be driven out by getting the
possessed animal to sniff the smoke of a fire made of
the dry fruit of the tree known as Kigelia musa. They
believe that the high god Engai can control the actions
of the ngoma, and they sometimes go to a sacred fig
tree, mugumu, and beseech Engai to protect the people
from evil spirits.

It is said that the ngoma of a murdered man flies
straight back to his father’s village and, as a rule,
hovers around it; but, should the murderer run away
and hide, the ngoma of his victim will often pursue
and haunt him or else influence events in such a way
that the guilty one will be discovered and handed over
to the authorities, who will deal with him according to
tribal law.

I endeavoured to find out from the elders whether
the spirit or soul was supposed to be present in the
body during life. But they declared that all they knew
was that ngere, the life breath, was present during life,
and between this and the soul they seemed to make no

SPIRIT BELIEFS 29

difference. They believe, however, that it is dangerous
to wake a man suddenly, as his ngere is away, and, in
this semi-conscious condition, he is very apt to strike
you if he should happen to have a weapon at hand.

They have quite a clear conception of the ngoma
or spirit of the departed, the character of which is said
to be similar to that of the person during his or her
lifetime.

Unlike the people of Kavirondo, they have no fear
of treading on a man’s shadow.

There are no particular customs connected with
suicide, although suicide is certainly not unknown
among them. When people hang or stab or drown
themselves they are supposed to have been possessed
by a malevolent spirit.

The general attitude of the people towards the
ancestral spirits has been described in the introductory
chapter, and many concrete examples will be found in
the accounts of the various ceremonies given later.
The influence of these spirit beliefs among the Kamba
people has been very clearly set forth by the Hon. C.
Dundas in his paper on Kitui, R.A.I.f., Vol. xliii,
1913, page 534

A quotation from an Assyrian tablet some three
thousand years old, which R. C. Thompson refers to
in his “ Semitic Magic,” shows how slowly man
changes :

“ The Gods which seize (upon man)

Have come forth from the grave.

The evil wind gusts

Have come forth from the grave

To demand the payment of rites and pouring of libations.

They have come forth from the grave,

Have come like a whirlwind.”

The author goes on to say ; “ Now if the attentions
of its friends on earth should cease and the soul should
find nothing to eat and drink, then it was driven by
force of hunger to come back to earth to demand its
due.” This psalm-like utterance might equally well

30 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

have been made by a Kikuyu or a Kamba of the
present day.

The intense desire of Africans for offspring is
probably due to the fact that children are expected to
sacrifice to the spirits of their dead parents, and the
ghost of one who has left no posterity is therefore in a
piteous plight. The spirits generally manifest them-
selves through certain women who, falling into a trance,
give utterance to the message with which they are
charged (“ Ethnology of the A-Kamba,” p. 86). This
reminds one of Saul going to Endor to yjsit a woman
with a familiar spirit (Sam. xxviii. 7).

Spirits are also said to manifest themselves and
give messages to men in dreams.

The Kitui people say that sometimes when a snake,
crawling outside a hut, is attacked, it will suddenly
vanish, and they then know that it was the imu of a
deceased person which had either assumed the form
of a snake or entered the body of a snake. A few
days afterwards, a woman will become possessed and
fall into a state of semi-trance, and the imu will speak
through her mouth and say : “ I came into the village
the other day, and So-and-so wanted to strike me.”
Whereupon the people think it just as well to sacrifice
a goat to sooth the feelings of the injured spirit.

The Kamba people, unlike the Kikuyu, do not
believe that spirits enter into kimbu or caterpillars.

When a hysena comes and howls near a village,
it is looked upon as an evil omen and as a token of
death, and the beast is generally driven away and
killed, if possible. They very probably believe that
an evil demon has assumed the shape of a hyaena. In
the Assyrian tablets mention is made of a spirit called
Alu which slinks through the streets at night like a
pariah dog and harms people.

There is a curious custom in Ukamba which throws
some light on the spiritual beliefs of the people. If
a young unmarried man is killed away from his village,
his imu or spirit will return there and speak to the people

SPIRIT BELIEFS 81

through the medium of an old woman in a dance (see
p. 86, author’s work on the A-Kamba), and say, “ I am
So-and-so speaking, and I want a wife.” The youth’s
father will then make arrangements to buy a girl from
another village and bring her to his, and she v/ill be
mentioned as the wife of the deceased, speaking of him
by name. She will presently be married to a brother
of the deceased, but she must continue to live in the
village where the deceased had his home.

If at any time the corporeal husband beats or ill-
treats her, and she in consequence runs away to her
father, the imu of the deceased will come and pester
the people of the village and they will have bad luck;
it will probably ask, through the usual medium, why
his wife has been ill-treated and driven away. The
head of the family will then take steps to induce the
girl to return for fear of the wrath of the spirit of his
deceased son.

To those who wish to obtain full insight into the
sociology of these people, it is of the utmost importance
to have a clear understanding of the native’s point of
view, and to bear in mind that the ancestral spirits
are a very real and vital thing to him and have a very
deep influence upon his life.

The leaders of psychical research allege that the
survival of human personality after death has been
scientifically proved, and that, under favourable
circumstances, communications from the dead have
been received. If this be so, might it not be said
that races on a lower plane of culture are possibly
more sensitive to such influences and that their belief
in the activity of the ancestral spirits is therefore
not wholly unreasonable ? The evidence for this,
however, is at present quite insufficient to satisfy most,
although we think that the question is one which
deserves further consideration.

Tree 5’;^inA.-=-When clearing a forest to make a
cultivated field, the Kikuyu people generally leave
a large and conspicuous tree in the clearing. Such a

32 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

tree is called murema kiriti and is believed to collect
the spirits from all other trees which have been cut
down in the vicinity. We have here an interesting
example of animism, the spirits so collected being most
emphatically declared to be tree, and not human spirits.
Now if this tree shows signs of decay and is liable to be
blown down, they decide to fell it. Before taking this
step, however, they sacrifice a red ram at the foot of
the tree, the ram being, as usual, killed by suffocation.
The tree is then cut down, and when this is done, the
elders take branches from two sacred bushes, mukenya
and muthakwa, and plant them on each side of the
stump of the fallen tree ; two elders cut the mukenya,
and two the muihakwa. The elders then say
“ Nitukuria muti tuiemeti^^ which means “ We pray
for this tree we have cut down,” and pour the melted
tail-fat of the ram over the stump, smearing the tatha
or stomach contents of the animal over the trunk of
the fallen tree. The wood from such a tree can only
be used by a senior elder, by a very old woman, or for
the making of beehives. If young people were to use
this particular fuel, they would become ill or die ; old
people are supposed to be ordinarily immune against
the operation of most curses or thahu. It is believed
that when a tree is cut down the spirits leave it and
settle in another big tree, and, if the above ceremonial
is observed, they are not angry and do not vent their
spite upon the people, or, as they say, no thahu falls
upon them. If such a tree blows down, the spirits are
supposed to avenge themselves on the elders, who are
held responsible for not having taken the necessary
precautions, and they are very apt to die.

There is great similarity between this and the lore
concerning the spirit of the oak, mentioned by Pro-
fessor Frazer. And, from a different point of view,
it may also be considered as an example of the slaying
of the divine king, expressed in terms of trees: fear
that harm may befall the spirit or spirits of the tree,
and the consequent ceremonial killing of the tree and

SPIRIT BELIEFS 88

arranging for the comfortable and formal migration
of the spirits to another tree, or to a new dwelling
place.

The A-Kamba of Kibwezi have a similar belief:
before cutting down a big solitary tree in a clearing,
an elder and a very old woman must pour beer and
corn at its foot. The man pours out the beer, and the
woman the corn. The tree is then felled, and, taking a
branch from it, they place it against another tree
some little distance away, and declare that the spirit
of the fallen tree will then go quietly into its new
abode.

In Ukamba of Ulu, Mr Osborne states that his
people told him that to fell an ithembo tree would, of
course, be considered absolute sacrilege, and according
to tradition it was the felling of an ithembo tree on the
Iveti Hills by an official of the I.B.E.A. Co. which
gave rise to the attacks by the A-Kamba on the Govern-
ment Station at Machakos in about 1892.

Large trees, however, which are not ithembo trees
appear to have a certain sanctity, and when, for reasons
of utility or safety, the felling of such trees becomes
necessary the following ceremony is practised:

The trunk of the tree to be felled is plastered with
the sap of the waithu shrub as a n^ondu.

A small branch of the tree is broken off and placed
against some smaller tree in the vicinity.

Some earth at the foot of the tree is also taken and
placed at the foot of the smaller tree.

The elders then assemble with some beer at the
tree to be cut down, and a little of the beer is poured
out at the foot of the doomed tree, accompanied by
some such prayer as — “ We give this beer as a gift to
the Engai, if one lives here, and ask him to go to
another tree.”

The rest of the beer is then drunk by the assembled
elders.

The larger parts of the tree are taken by the elders
of ithembo to manufacture into honey barrels, whilst

c

84 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the rest is carried off as firewood by the women entitled
to sacrifice at the itkembo.

Non-observance of this ceremony is supposed to
bring death on the man who cuts the tree down, and
on all who make use of the timber.

Miscellaneous Spirit Worship. — There are some
traces of the belief in river spirits. For instance, at
places where there are waterfalls like on the Chania
and Thika, the elders, in passing, will spit into the
river or throw a little grass into it.

There is a sacred rock near Thembigwa, close to a
stream called Kichii— a tributary of the Ruaraka —
where the natives pluck tufts of grass as they pass by
and throw them on the rock.

If a tree has blown down and fallen across the path,
grass is again placed on the fallen trunk. Sometimes,
too, stones are laid on a fallen tree. When people come
upon the skull of a dead elephant in the bush, they also
place grass on it.

The origin of all these customs appears to be lost.

Certain plants are believed to be maleficent, and are
possibly thought to be connected with bad spirits.
There is a creeper called mwinyuria, which is said to
possess sap like blood ; the story is told how one day,
near Kirawa, three men named Nbota, Kigondu, and
Kacheru, cut one of these plants which was growing
near a sacred fig tree, and died the same day. When
cut, the released end is alleged to spring out like the
lash of a whip. This creeper is rare in Kikuyu, but is
said to be common in the Kibwezi bush.

The Scapegoat. — The Kikuyu have a ceremony
which appears to be an undoubted example of a belief
which may be grouped with the Semitic doctrine of
the scapegoat.

If a serious epidemic visits a village, the elders
take a ram, a he-goat or a ewe lamb which has not yet
borne, mwati, and slaughter it at the village. They
cut pieces of meat from the carcase and impale them
on wooden skewers, ndara or njibe. The men and

SPIRIT BELIEFS 85

women of the village then each take a piece, walk
away some distance from the village and throw it
into the bush. They firmly believe that the disease
will be carried away with the pieces of meat.

The remaining meat is roasted at a fire and eaten
by the villagers; the bones are collected at the place
where the meat was roasted and are broken up and
the marrow extracted and eaten. Beer is prepared,
and next morning at dawn, some is poured on the
bones and the hysenas come and carry off the fragments.

When they pour the libation of beer on the place
of the fire, they pray as follows : Twa oria ichua twa
oria murimu utika choke muchi ” — which means, “ We
put out the fire at the place where we roasted the meat,
we put out the sickness so that it cannot return again
to our village.”

Everyone must be awakened before the beer is
poured out. The beer is put into an ox-horn and into
a piece of gourd, ndayi, the former being held in the
right hand and the latter in the left. The beer in the
right hand is poured out first to appease the male
ngoma, that in the left to appease the female ngoma.
From the ceremony taking place at the village it
j is clear that the people believe that the ancestral spirits
alone require to be propitiated.

The Scafegoat Idea in Kitui. — If a village is
afflicted by a serious sickness, the headman will call
in a medicine man who concocts some medicine by
grinding up the roots of the following plants :
muthumba, kiongoa (an aloe), mulema, nthaia,
kivumbu, and mutaa. A small boy and girl are then
chosen from among the inhabitants, the villagers all
congregate together, and the small boy leads a goat
twice round the group, followed by the little girl and
led by the medicine man ; the party then passes through
the centre of the group of people. The medicine
man next makes an incision in the right ear of the
goat, and the blood from this is allowed to drip into
a half gourd containing the above-mentioned magical

86 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

concoction, mixed with water. The villagers then
form up into a procession and, led by the medicine
man, run for some distance into the bush towards the
setting sun, no one being allowed to look backwards.
The medicine man then stops and throws the mixture
of medicine and blood in front of him, and the people
return. This ceremony is performed in the early
afternoon, after two p.m. That night, the village
head must cohabit with his wife. This point is con-
sidered a matter of such importance that the elder has
to take the kitkito oath that it has been done.

A Kikuyu Oracle. — There lives in South Kikuyu-
land an elder named Kichura or Thiga wa Wairumbi
wa Kaumo of the Kachiko clan and the Njenga genera-
tion or rika, who is credited with the extraordinary
power of being the recipient of messages from the
Supreme Being, and in consequence possesses the gift
of prophecy. He was interviewed and cross-examined
by the writer, and stated that at intervals, about twice a
year, during the night, he falls into a deeper sleep than
usual, a trance in fact, and that while in this condition
he is taken out of his bed and statements are made to
him by a voice, but he cannot see who gives him the
message. The trance always occurs at night, and he
is generally taken outside his house while in this cata-
leptic condition, but says that he never remembers
being able to distinguish the huts or any familiar objects
in the village. The interior of the hut appears to him
to be lighted up, and the message comes with a
booming sound which he understands.

He stated that one day when visiting an elder
named Kibutu, he was seized during the night and
taken bodily through the thatch of the roof, and was
found on the top of the hut next morning. On another
occasion a young man of the warrior class, mwanake,
belonging to his village, was sleeping alongside him in
his hut when he was temporarily carried off, and the
young man’s hair all came off as if it had been shaved,
and in the morning it was found lying in a heap on

KIKUYU.

TYPICAL MUTHUKI YA UKURI^.

(Elder of the (jvode of iirlei>f)

SPIRIT BELIEFS S7

the floor by the bed, the owner having no idea how this
had occurred.

He does not sleep in an ordinary hut with his wife,
but in a thengira or bachelor hut with another elder.
When he is seized with one of his trances the other elder
will wake up and find he has gone, but does not see him
go or return.

The day following one of his seizures he collects
the elders and delivers his message. He states that
after one of these seizures he is very exhausted, and
for three days cannot rise from his bed. His father and
paternal grandfather had this gift or power. His
father told him that his paternal grandmother had three
breasts, two on her bosom and one on her back, but he
did not say whether he considered that this had any
connection with the other phenomena.

He stated that he believed the gift came from God
and not from the ngoma or ancestral spirits, and that
if he did not deliver to the people the messages he
received he would be stricken with sickness. He says
that he was invested with this power when he was a
stripling, soon after he had been circumcised. One
morning he woke up with his two hands tightly clasped,
and he passed blood instead of urine for nine days. A
big medicine man named Wangnendu was then called
in, a goat was killed, and the medicine man tied rukwaru
bracelets of the skin on to the patient’s wrists. The
haematuria then stopped, and his hands relaxed, and
he was able to open them,, and it was found that he had
fifteen mbugu in each hand. These are white stones
such as are used in a medicine man’s divination gourd.
The medicine man then brought a small medicine gourd
and placed the mbugu therein.

Kichura still has the gourd with the thirty mbugu,
and relates how on one occasion his hut was burnt down
and his gourd was destroyed in the fire, but that the
mbugu were found quite uninjured in the ashes. He
was asked whether he considered that his powers were
intimately connected with these stones; he declared

38 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

that he did not believe he could lose them, but if by
some mischance, however, they should be lost God
would give him some more, and that even if they were
lost he would receive oracles as before.

He gave examples of the kind of messages he
received. On one occasion, some time before the
advent of Europeans, he was told that the Masai would
be severely stricken with small-pox, and that subse-
quently many would settle among the Kikuyu, and
shortly afterwards it happened accordingly. On
another occasion he was told that a white race would
enter the country and that they and the Kikuyu would
live side by side in this country, and now it has come
to pass.

He was seized before the great famine of 1900 and
foretold its arrival. Later, he was told to inform the
Kikuyu to sacrifice a white sheep, a red sheep, and a
black male goat at the mugumu, sacred fig trees,
and that the chief Kinanjui was to sacrifice a mori, white
heifer, at the head waters of the Mbagathi River.
These orders were obeyed, and the famine and small-
pox were lifted from the land.

Early in the present season he was told that the
maize and other grains would be lost by drought, and
that the food now being planted (April, 1911) would
come to a good harvest. He was also told that during
the present year the young people would suffer greatly
from dysentery, and that they were to sacrifice sheep at
the sacred fig trees, and that the women and children
were to put bracelets from the skins of the sacrificed
sheep on their wrists. Many have done so, and those
who have obeyed will escape the visitation. After this
he says that small-pox will come from the west of the
country, and attack people from Karuri’s (east slopes
of Nandarua Mountain) to Limoru. The disease
will gradually work its course eastward and decrease in
intensity. When he delivers one of his oracular utter-
ances the aihuri ya kiama, elders of the council, bring
him a sheep and a gourd of beer. He kills the former

SPIRIT BELIEFS 89

and eats it, and the beer is returned to the elders to
drink.

He says that sometimes when rain does not come he
is accused of stopping it, but that such accusations are
due to ignorance, as he is merely the unconscious and
involuntary agent for utterances from a Supreme Power,
and that all he can do in such cases is to take a sheep
to a sacred fig tree, sacrifice it there, and pray for rain,
just like any other elder who is qualified to do so.

In Ukamba, many years ago, a famous medicine
man, Kathengi by name, is said to have prophesied the
coming of the white men and their domination of the
country.

CHAPTER II

SACRIFICE

Although this rite has often been referred to and
described in a somewhat desultory way by various
writers, it seems to have received very little serious
attention. The subject is, however, one which un-
doubtedly contains many features of great interest and
is certainly deserving of special examination and study.
There is little doubt that if we can only fully under-
stand the relations of a people to their gods we have
advanced a long way towards a realisation of their
moral and intellectual development.

It is first proposed to examine the Kikuyu
ceremonial.

Among this tribe sacrifice is of two kinds:

(1) The sacrifice at the sacred fig tree, or mugumu,
which is always intended as an act of communion with
a deity or high god called Engai.

This sacrifice may be either a communal rite, or it
may be a personal matter for the head of a village.

(2) The other sacrifice is carried out in a village
and is intended as an offering to the spirits of the
ancestors who are supposed to live underground. This
may be either a communal or an individual act.

Dotted about Kikuyu are numbers of great wild fig
trees {Ficus capensis), many of which are used from
generation to generation as sacred shrines or places of
sacrifice, called mugumu or muii wa Engai.

Certain big medicine men like Njau wa Kabocha
have special trees; it appears that the original choice

40

SACRIFICE 41

of a tree as a sacred place devolved on certain notable
medicine men, and if a sacred tree happens to fall owing
to age, the elders assemble there and sacrifice a ram
and a male goat ; they eat one half and leave the other
half of each carcase at the tree and pour the fat over
the stump of the fallen tree to appease the deity.

It is then the duty of the local magician and the
elders of ukuru to choose another tree. They sacrifice
at the new tree, and if their prayers are answered they
know that it is acceptable to Engai, but, if after several
trials no result is obtained, they dedicate another to the
service of Engai.

The idea of sacrilege is very marked. If, for
instance, an impious person cuts a portion of a sacred
tree, dire results are believed to ensue, and the elders
make the offender pay a ram and a male goat. These
are sacrificed at the tree, and the elders apply a strip of
the skin to the place where the incision was made in
the tree and anoint it with fat and the tatha or stomach
contents. The breast of the ram is cut off and hung
in the tree, and the remainder of the carcase and the
whole of the carcase of the goat, eaten by the elders.

No beast or bird can be killed or shot in a sacred
tree. The sacred tree and its environs is often called
Kithangaona cha inja, which means the “ sacred place
of the ceremonies.” On the occasion of a sacrifice
the elders of ukuru send word to the elders of
Athamaki or Athuri ya mburi nne or elders of four
goats and any senior to that grade, saying tuihieni
mutini — “ Let us go to the tree.” No elder whose
father is alive can attend. No elder must go to the
tree in a state of anger ; no one must display anger with
a wife, child, or even a stranger the day before he
attends at the tree.

Elders of both of the circumcision guilds go
together to the sacred tree and also elders of all
clans.

If two elders, or their people, have a blood feud
they are not allowed to attend or take part in a sacrifice

4^ BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

at the sacred tree until the feud is at an end; if they
do, they are supposed to die.

A person who is alien to the tribe, but who has
been formally admitted to it, may attend a sacrifice.

Oaths or ordeals are not administered at the
sacred tree.

Strict celibacy must be observed the night before
they go to sacrifice and the night after. The night
before, they sleep in their usual huts, but the night
after, they sleep in the thengira or goat hut. The
morning following the sacrifice they go and bathe in
a river and then resume their ordinary life.

A departure from this rule of celibacy by anyone
present will entirely spoil the efficacy of the sacrifice,
and, if an offender is discovered, he will have to pay
a fine of two goats, and the elders will spit on him
ceremonially and sacrifice afresh on the following day.

Arms must not be taken to the sacred tree. The
elders wear their usual garments.

The following things are collected on the day
before the sacrifice at the village of the elder who
provides the sacrificial ram, and that night they stay at
his village:

2 gourds of honey beer.

2 gourds of sugar cane beer.

I cooking pot.

I half gourd.

I small knife for skinning the sacrifice and making
the incision to bleed it.

The sacrifice is always a ram, and it is called
ngofima. One year it will be black, but if that
particular year the seasons are not propitious they
consider that the deity is displeased and therefore
change the colour, choosing either a red or a white one.

In former times a he-goat was said to be sacrificed
before going to war. The ram must have the clan
mark on its ears, and must also have had its tail cut.

SACRIFICE 48

The provision of the sacrificial animals is settled
by the elders, who pick the donors by rotation. At a
specially important sacrificial ceremony, however, an
important medicine man is called in and decides who
shall provide the ram.

The proper time for a communal sacrifice is about
two p.m., but private sacrifices take place at nine a.m.

It is said that the later time is usual for a communal
sacrifice because it takes some time for elders who
live far away to reach the place.

When the assembly arrives at the tree, one of the
elders lifts up the ram into a standing position on its
hind legs, facing the tree. This is called Kurugamia
ngorima mugumuini — “ To stand the ram before the
tree.” The idea is probably to show the sacrificial
animal ceremonially to the deity.

Only senior elders are allowed to go to the actual
foot of the tree, and the elders of the four goat grade
collect the wood for the ichua fire.

A gourd of honey and one of sugar cane beer are
then poured into the ground at the base of the tree
and the elders call out : '' Twa kuthaitha Engai twa
kuhoia mburi twa kuhoia indo ckiotki ” — “ We pray
to God, we sacrifice a goat, we offer all things.”

It is curious that they use the word mburi, which
really signifies a goat, whilst the Kikuyu use the word
mburi in a collective sense, which, in this way, often
refers to sheep as well as goats.

The sheep is then suffocated by clasping its muzzle.
As soon as it is insensible, but before it is actually
dead, its throat is pierced by the sacrificial knife and
the blood is collected in the half gourd called kinga,
mentioned above. The blood is then poured out at
the foot of the sacred tree, cf. Exodus xxix. lo ;
“ And thou shalt slay the ram and thou shalt take his
blood and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.”
The animal can be strangled by any elder present, and
it does not appear to be the duty of any particular
person to pierce the animal’s throat. It is said that

44 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the animal is strangled so that its life breath should
not escape. A sheep killed for food is also strangled,
but an animal which has its throat cut can also be eaten.

Should an ox be killed, it is stabbed at the back of
the neck, but an ox is said never to be offered as a
sacrifice.

The right half of the carcase is then skinned, that
portion being cut away and removed, and the left
half wrapped in the skin and placed at the foot of the
tree and left there. This is believed to be eaten by
a hyaena or wild cat which is moved to do so by the
deity.

A fire is then lit at a little distance from the tree
and the pieces of meat from it are stuck on skewers,
roasted and eaten by the elders. In olden times this
fire was always supposed to be kindled from new fire
made by friction, but nowadays a firebrand is often
brought from a village, or better still from a fire in a
garden.

The place at which this sacrificial fire is kindled
is called ichua. The meat is laid on the branches of
certain sacred trees, viz :

1. Mutkakwa.

2. Nahoroa.

3. Muthigio.

4. Mugumu.

5. Mar aria.

which are collectively termed mathinjiro . The skewers
used for roasting the meat are called ndara, and must
be of muthakwa and muthigio wood. The branches
and the skewers have to be burnt in the sacred fire on
the same day as that on which the meat is cooked.
The burning of these is said to be in the nature of a
prayer to Engai, and it is specifically stated that this
is not done for fear of anyone using these branches and
skewers as fuel as everyone would dread touching them.

When the meat is cooked, it is eaten by the elders,
who each drink a horn of beer. The fat of the ram is

SACRIFICE 45

boiled down in the cooking pot provided for the
purpose, and one of the elders climbs into the sacred
tree, and pours the liquid fat on to the main stem of the
tree. The breast of the ram is often cut out and also
hung up in the tree. Cf. Exodus xxix. 26 : “ And thou
shalt take the breast of the ram and wave it for a wave
offering before the Lord.” The bones of the portion
of the sacrificial ram eaten by the elders are each broken
into two parts and placed at the foot of the tree, the
marrow not being extracted. Not a single piece of
the meat may be taken back to the villages. The
elders then retire some little distance away and chant
as follows : “ T athai Engai mwangi utue mbura ” —
“We Mwangi elders pray God to give us rain.”

If, of course, the sacrifice is for another object the
prayer is varied. After the prayer no man must look
back at the tree. Each man returns to his village.
Next morning the principal wife of each elder goes
to the tree and deposits at its foot offerings of uncooked
bananas and various kinds of grain.

If, however, they notice that the sacrificial meat is
untouched they do not deposit their offerings, but retire
to some distance and call out to their husbands, telling
them that Engai has refused the sacrifice. The elders
assemble and send the women back with their offerings.
They then select another elder and direct him to
provide a fresh ram, which is sacrificed as before.
They pray to Engai and beg him not to refuse their
sacrifice a second time, as they have brought a fatter
sheep. Their exhortation is : “ Tiga Engai kuiumbia ”
— “ Beg God not to refuse.”

The women come again on the following morning,
and, if the meat is eaten, they leave their offerings and
return to their villages, chanting a paean of joy as they
go. The chant is called N gemi, and is a form of what
is usually known as “ ululuing”

They sacrifice at the sacred trees to invoke rain,
and they also sacrifice to check the progress of an
epidemic, when they say ; “ Kurinda murimo utikaoki

46 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

muji ” — “ To stop the sickness that it may not come
to the village.”

They sacrifice and pray for relief from famine :
“ Kuoya mugumuini n^aragu ithire ” — “ To pray at
the mugumu tree that the hunger may finish.”

Here again a ram is sacrificed, but before the
animal is killed an important, magician pours medicine
into its mouth, and also squirts beer from his own
mouth into that of the ram.

Unlike other tribes, they neither shave their heads
nor deposit offerings of hair at the sacred tree. It is
said that sometimes lights are seen at night in a sacred
tree, and the following day they hasten to sacrifice
there. Every season, when the maize is just coming
up, the elders summon the important medicine men to
go with them to the sacred tree to sacrifice. One of
the magicians pours medicine into the mouth of the
sacrificial ram before if is killed, and also pours it on
the fire on which the meat is roasted. The bones of
the animal are then burnt in the fire. These are
supposed to be burnt so that the smoke may ascend
into the sacred tree and be pleasing to the deity. “ It
is a burnt offering to the Lord : it is sweet savour an
offering made by fire unto the Lord ” (Exodus xxix. i8).

The blood is caught in a half gourd, njeli or kinga,
and then placed in an ox horn; one half is poured at
the foot of the sacred tree, the other half being mixed
with tiny pieces of intestinal fat and placed in the
large intestine of the sacrificial ram. This is roasted
over the fire and eaten by the senior elders of ukuru.
The mixture is called ndundiru.

Near the time of the harvest, when the crops are
ripe, but before they are cut, the elders take a ram to
the sacred place and slaughter it. They pour the
blood at the foot of the tree and pray : “ Engai twaoka
kukui enyama tutikarware enda twa getha iriu wega ”
— O God we have to bring meat so that we may not
get ill, for we have good crops and are glad.”

The elders then eat the meat. After the feast,

SACRIFICE 47

they take the tatha or stomach contents of the sacrificial
ram and sprinkle it over the ripe crops, and also
sprinkle some over the mukumbi or big wicker
bottles in the grain huts and over the big gourds in
which grain is stored. It is believed that if the elders
failed to do this, the people would suffer greatly from
diarrhcea. The last two rites are evidently rudi-
mentary forms of the ancient Semitic ritual of the
offering of the firstfruits, or cereal oblation. The
sprinkling of the crops and of the grain receptacles
with tatha indicate either a conservation of the crop
for human consumption, or a purification of it from
all influences which might be harmful to the consumers.
The latter is probably more in accordance with their
line of thought.

On the particular day when sacrifices for rain are
offered, no one may touch the earth with iron ; not even
a spear or sword may be rested on the ground, as the
sacrifice would then be useless.

The Kamba have a somewhat similar belief, and
think that to till the soil with iron drives away the rain.

Among the Kikuyu, however, the ground on such
days must not be struck by anything, and an elder
may not even strike his mithege staff into the ground
in the usual way.

Sacrifices for good crops are also made at the
mugumu trees by medicine men. On the same day, a
mwanake (a young man of warrior age) patrols the
whole district (ridge) with a torch, which he finally
throws on the ground. No one may then come from
another ridge or leave the ridge to go to another.

Sanctuary.— -The ancient idea of a sanctuary at
a holy place is known to the Kikuyu. If a murderer,
or a person who has committed a serious crime, runs
to a sacred place and touches the tree, he is safe
from vengeance. The criminal cannot, of course, stay
indefinitely at the tree or he would starve, but the
elders come and take him away, and his life is safe.
He cannot, however, re-enter a village, and his clans-

48 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

men have to go to the tree and sacrifice a ram, which
they are supposed to offer in exchange for him. He is
smeared with the tatha, and a line of white earth, ira,
is drawn from his forehead to the tip of his nose by a
senior elder, of ukuru. After which he is iakikia, or
ceremonially purified, and can return to his family.
All the meat of the sacrifice is eaten by the elders, and
none is left at the tree. Some of the tatha, however,
is sprinkled at the foot with the object of purifying the
spot where the criminal stood. In a case of this sort
the criminal does not pay blood money himself, but
his blood relatives have to pay for him. If in war an
enemy were pursued and took sanctuary at a sacred
place, he could not be attacked whilst he was there,
but would probably be seized and killed at some
distance from the sacred place.

If, again, a man should kill a tribesman, he can run
to the house of his victim’s father and, by confessing
his crime, obtain sanctuary there. The father will
then kill a ram and place a strip of skin on the right
wrist of the homicide, who must have his hand shaved
and be ceremonially purified by a medicine man —
tahikia, as it is termed. He will henceforth become
as the son of the deceased’s father.

Private Sacrifice to the Deity. — The head of a
village usually has a private sacred tree at which he
sacrifices to the deity for good fortune or for assistance
in times of trouble.

The ceremony described by Routledge — “ A
Prehistoric People,” pages 232-734 — is a private
sacrifice to the deity.

As we have said before, women are not allowed
to attend a sacrifice to the deity at one of the regular
sacred trees. But at a private sacrifice for good
fortune, carried out at a sacred tree belonging to a
particular village, the village elders attend with their
wives and children, their cattle, sheep and goats.

The sacrificial ram is killed, and the whole family,
as well as flocks and herds, are smeared with fat.

SACRIFICE 49

The party then returns home, uttering the usual
African cry of joy, sometimes called “ ululuing"' which
the Kikuyu term ngemi.

The women and children are not actually allowed
to come near the tree, but must remain some little
distance away. The people belonging to the Masai
circumcision guild use muzigio, mutumaiyu (Olea
chrysophylla), or mugumu trees for their private sacri-
fices. They would probably begin with a mutumaiyu
or muzigio tree, and if the luck was not good they would
change to a mugumu. Those belonging to the Kikuyu
guild use either mugumu or muthakwa trees.

In a private sacrifice, the skin of the sacrificial
ram is taken back to the village and presented to the
head wife of the elder, but this is never done at a public
communal sacrifice.

The night before the sacrifice, the elders of the
village sleep in their own huts, but must observe celi-
bacy. The night after, they sleep in the goat hut or
thengira.

For two days before and after a sacrifice, no
stranger is allowed to sleep in a village; nothing is
sent out of the village to sell, and nothing is allowed
to be carried away. If a stranger comes, he can be
fed, but he must eat the food there and not take it
away. At both a public and private sacrifice the eyes
of a ram must be very carefully removed from the
carcase, for it is considered an extremely bad omen if
an eye should burst during extraction, and a fresh
sacrificial ram then has to be provided.

Two days after a private sacrifice, ceremonial beer
drinking takes place at the village, the men drinking
together in the goat hut, or thengira., and the women
in the hut of the principal wife; this is called a
kithangaona ya muchi. During the ceremony they
pray to the deity: “ Twa thuitha Engai utue endo
chiothi chiana na mburi na ngombe ” — We pray
thee, O God, that you will give us all things, children,
goats, and cattle.”

D

50 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

On the morning of the day following a private
sacrifice the wives go to the sacred tree and deposit
offerings of grain, bananas, and other things.

Sacrifice to Ancestral Spirits. — In addition to the
sacrifice at the sacred trees to the deity Engai, the
Kikuyu sacrifice to the ngoma, or ancestral spirits.
These rites, however, never take place at the sacred
trees, but in a village, close to the village shrine.

The animal sacrificed is a ram. It is killed in the
same way as those sacrificed to the deity, the carcase
being laid upon branches from certain sacred trees, viz :

Mukuyu — F icus sp :

Mutumaiyu — Olea chrysophylla.

Muthakwa — Vernonia sp:

Mutare.

Mugumu — Ficus capensis.

The branches are called mathinjiro .

Four skewers, ndara, are cut from each of the
above species, and the pieces of meat which are eaten
are impaled upon the skewers and roasted at a fire
specially kindled for the purpose, called ichua and
muzigia. M2dumaiyu or makuri wood must be used.

The branches on which the meat has rested, as well
as the skewers, must be burnt the same day in the fire on
which the meat was cooked. Early next morning,
before sunrise, beer is poured on the spot.

The ichua fire was formerly kindled on the spot
from new fire made by friction, but nowadays it is
supposed to be brought from a village.

These sacrifices generally take place at about
nine a.m.

An elder usually sacrifices a ram every three months
or so at the grave of his father. He pours blood, fat,
and beer upon it and leaves the skin there.

If the father died away from home, on a journey, the
son proceeds some distance along the road by which
the father left and sacrifices a ram by the roadside.

SACRIFICE 51

The son and his wives eat the meat of the sacrifice, but
a wife married after the father’s death, as well as the
man’s children, are not allowed to touch it.

The sacrifice must take place before sunrise. This
would seem to be a very common feature in many
ancient sacrifices, and some authorities consider that it
may be in some way connected with the worship of
Venus, the morning star. It is, of course, a difficult
question to settle, but I would venture to suggest that
it is more likely to have some connection with the idea
that ancestral spirits are more active at night, and there-
fore more appreciative of attention, and that they lapse
into inaction with the sunrise.

There appears to be no particular day in the month
for the celebration of these sacrifices.

If, on the occasion of a sacrifice at the sacred tree,
the elders chance to see a snake, they say that it is a
ngoma, or ancestral spirit, which has taken the form of
a snake, and endeavour to pour a little of the blood
from the sacrificial ram on its head, back, and
tail.

If the owner of the village should meet a large
caterpillar, called thatu, near the gate, he pours a little
fat and milk in its path; if it turns back, all is well.
If, on the other hand, it should walk round the spot
where the fat, and so forth, was poured, and still come
on towards the village, the people know that it is a
spirit which has assumed the form of a caterpillar, and a
ram is sacrificed in the village. If one of these cater-
pillars is found in a food hut, a ram is again sacrificed
for the same reason.

Should anyone set fire to the grass or scrub on the
spot where the dead are thrown out, spirits of the
departed are supposed to be heard calling out. When
this happens, the person who lit the fire gives a ram,
which must be killed on the spot, and the elders of
ukuru sprinkle the tatha all round to appease the
ngoma.

Sometimes a spirit will come and call in a peculiar

52 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

way outside a village at night. The people believe
that it is hungry, and next day sacrifice a ram.

The elders, when they eat, always throw a little
food to the spirits before commencing their meal, and
at a beer-drinking always pour a little beer on the
ground to propitiate the spirits so that they may not
harm them. Women, too, when they are cooking
porridge or gruel, invariably throw some on the ground
for the spirits.

Description of a Sacrifice at a Sacred Fig Tree in
Kikuyu. (Witnessed by the Author.) — The elders
first took some sugar cane and poured a little on each
side and in front of the tree, praying at the same time.
The sacrificial ram was then strangled, held up before
the tree, and its throat pierced. The blood was
collected in a cow’s horn and a little poured out on
each side of the tree and allowed to trickle down the
trunk. At this stage of the proceedings another prayer
was uttered.

A strip of skin and fat running from the throat of
the carcase down to its belly, and including the genitals,
was then cut off and hung up on a small branch pro-
jecting from the tree. The elders now prayed again.
After this the ram was dismembered and the feast took
place.

If the head of a village notices the appearance of
disease among his flocks and herds, or among his
people, he sacrifices at his own sacred tree. But he
first of all consults a mundu mugo, or medicine man, to
find out whether the affliction comes from the high god
or is due to the offended ngoma, or ancestral spirits.
The medicine man throws his stones, and if, after sort-
ing them into little heaps, the balance left is eight, he
knows the trouble comes from the high god; if, on
the other hand, the balance is seven, the trouble is
attributed to the ngoma or ancestral spirits.

For a man, the heap consists of five stones, and for
a woman three.

SACRIFICE 58

The sacrificial ram is obtained from a neighbour.

If a bad storm comes and damages the crops, or if
there is too much rain or a drought, a large assembly
of elders is convened. They meet and sacrifice at the
communal place of sacrifice, called the big nmguniu.

Sacrifice among A-Kamba. — We will now examine
the ceremonial connected with sacrifice among the
A-Kamba, and principally among those of Kitui.
These people have two kinds of sacred places, or
mathembo (singular, ithembo).

(1) Sacred places for the whole country, or rather
for each big division of the country, at which they pray
and sacrifice to Engai or Mulungu for rain, and in the
event of a pestilence among human beings and cattle.

(2) Sacred places for a group of two or three
villages, where they pray to the aiimu, or ancestral
spirits, on the occasion of sickness among people or
cattle.

The holy places are almost always at a tree. For
the first-mentioned a fig tree of the species known
as mumo is chosen. For the village shrine, on the
other hand, the tree may be either a mumo, fig tree,
another variety of wild fig called mumbo, or a
mutundu tree.

The mode of procedure of a sacrifice for rain at
an ithembo of the first kind may be taken as an
example, and the following description was given by
a couple of leading elders :

On the day settled for the ceremony, the elders of
ithembo assemble early in the morning, and at about
nine a.m. proceed slowly to the sacred place, taking
with them an nthengi, or male goat, usually black in
colour, as well as milk, snuff, and a small quantity of
every kind of produce which is grown.

The following were specified : mbaazi (cajanus),
mawele (millet), mtama (sorghum), bananas, wimbi
(penicillaria), sugar cane, beans, sweet potatoes,
cassava, and pumpkins; also some sugar cane beer
(honey beer is not allowed), red trade beads and

54 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

cowries, the leaves of a sweet smelling plant called
mutaa, butter and gruel.

The men lead the goat and carry the milk, gruel,
snuff, and beer, each one putting a little butter in the
milk, whilst the other items are carried to the tree by
the old women.

The women are not allowed to approach the tree,
but dance together some distance away ; as mentioned
above, the ceremony commences at about nine a.m.,
and goes on till about two p.m., when the actual sacri-
fice takes place. The proceedings are not hurried,
as some of the elders have to travel long distances
before reaching the spot.

Six senior elders and six old women are selected,
and all proceed to the tree ; they can wear their loin
cloths, but their blankets are taken off and left some
distance away. The men go first and taste a little of
the milk, gruel, and beer, which they spit out at the
foot of the tree, and then give way to the old women
who go through the same ceremony. The men again
return to the tree and pour the balance of the milk
and so forth at its foot. Each elder now puts some of
the snuff in the palm of his hands, takes a little, and
deposits the remainder. The women again come up
and pour the foodstuffs at the foot of the sacred tree,
the butter being smeared on it.

When the offerings are deposited, the officiating
elders — one can almost call them priests — pray as
follows ; “ Mulungu chao ya nekeu twenda nbua na
aka machisi na ngombe kisia na mbui kisia engai
tupiengea muimu andu ma kakwe ” — “ Mulungu, this
is food. We desire rain and wives and cattle and
goats to bear, and we pray God that our people may
not die of sickness.”

The sacrifice of the goat comes next, but before
this is done, they take the roots of two trees called
mriti and muthumba, grind them together, mix them
with water, and make the animal drink the mixture with
a view to sanctifying it. This done, they lead the goat

SACRIFICE 55

up to the tree, stand it on its hind legs before the tree,
or, as they say, “ show ” it ; its throat is then pierced
and the blood allowed to flow over the offerings
previously enumerated. The carcase is skinned and
an incision made from the throat to the stomach. The
upper portion of the skull with the horns is cut off and
buried at the foot of the tree. The leg bones, however,
must not be broken, but carefully disarticulated at the
knee-joints and elbows. Small pieces of meat are cut
from every part of the carcase and from every internal
organ and deposited at the foot of the tree. The meat
is then divided, the left shoulder and part of the back
is given to the officiating old women, whilst the elders
take the rest. (C/. Exodus xii. 46 : “ The bones of
the meat of the passover feast must not be broken.”)

Each party, male and female, lights a separate fire
and eats, the selected officiating elders eating with their
fellows. The fire must be made of the wood of a
mumo tree, not that of the sacred tree, but of another
of the same species. The six men and six women each
impale a fragment of the meat on a skewer of mumo
wood, roast and eat it. This is a ceremonial meal,
and when it is over the remainder of the meat is
divided up, and any kind of firewood can be used for
cooking it.

The actual sacrifice of the goat is called kutonya
n^ondu, to pierce the sacrifice. The mere word
sacrifice, however, hardly expresses it, for the word
ng^ndu really implies purification, or perhaps expia-
tion, the underlying idea being that the goat is an
expiatory gift offered with the object of relieving the
country from the effects of the deity’s displeasure and
of the consequent drought.

No work is done on the day following the sacrifice,
and no cultivation is undertaken, neither any house
building. A man may stroll over and see a friend
close by, but he is not allowed to go on a real
journey.

The night before the sacrifice the eiders must

56 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

observe celibacy, as well as on the six following days,
the day on which the sacred meat was eaten counting as
the first.

No elder can participate in this ceremony if he has
the stain of death on him ; that is to say, if his wife or
child has died, and the purification ceremonies con-
nected with the event have not been completed ; or
again if he, or one of his men, has killed someone and
the ceremonies for removing the bloodstain are not
over. Any fighting or quarrelling or fighting among
the people would also be likely to destroy the efficacy
of the ceremony.

If a man breaks a stick from the sacred tree the
elders at once fine him, and a bull or goat is sacrificed.
The wound in the tree is anointed with butter, and
milk is poured at its foot. Lights are sometimes seen
at night in mathembo, but people very rarely go out
to them while it is dark ; those who have tried it declare
that stones were thrown at them from the tree, and that
these stones strike fire when they hit the ground. If a
person be thus attacked, it is a sure sign that he is fitted
for a medicine man.

Another account of the procedure was obtained
from elders in a different part of the Ukamba country,
and as this varies a little and contains a few additional
details, it is considered advisable to describe it.

The day before the sacrifice, the women of the
neighbourhood gather together and go to the sugar
cane plantations, every woman bringing back two or
three sticks of cane and taking them to the thomi, or
village meeting place, of one of the elders, where
they are crushed to make beer. In the evening, the
elders of ithembo take the beer and place it near the
sacred tree. They light a fire there with a firebrand
from the village, and the gourds of beer are put near
it ; a little beer is also poured at the foot of the tree and
they pray to the iniu of the person to whom the tree is
dedicated, and then return home. It is believed that
the object of this ritual is to attract the attention of

SACRIFICE 57

the guardian spirit of the shrine, and to propitiate it
and to ensure, as it were, its attendance on the morrow
as the intermediary between the people and Engai.

In the morning, the elders of ithembo and certain
very old women proceed to the ithembo. The elders
bring the sacrificial beast and first suffocate it; they
then quickly skin its throat, and the oldest of the
elders stabs it in the neck with a knife, collecting the
blood in a half gourd (nzeli). The skinning is then
completed, and small pieces of meat are cut from the
tongue, ribs, and the left flank. One kidney, one
testicle, and a piece of the liver, heart, and every
internal organ are also taken, all these fragments
being placed in a half gourd. They then take a half
gourd of beer, and the gourds containing the meat
and the blood, and empty them at the foot of the tree.
The old women now approach and deposit samples of
every kind of field produce — beans, maize, and so
forth — and milk. Some of the food is cooked and
some is raw.

When the men deposit their offerings they pray
as follows : “ Engai twaevoya mbua kuamba eyima
sionthi Engai ” — “ We pray to God that rain may
bless all our country.”

The women merely say “ Twaevoya mbua ” —
“ We pray for rain.”

The sacrificial meat is then cooked and eaten. The
first to partake of it are the four senior elders.

The fire for cooking the meat is lit a little away
from the tree, and the fuel must consist of dry sticks
picked up in the sacred grove. The fire haying been
lit, a small staging is built over it, and the pieces of
meat are placed thereon to roast. The place of the fire
is called ivuvio\ the wood used for the framework is
muthakwa\ the sticks composing it are mbatwa, and
the whole framework when completed is called ndala.

When removing the marrow the bones of the sacri-
ficial animal must not be broken.

After the feast the bones are collected and placed

58 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

on the fire and covered with the stomach contents
{tatha or muyo), and the smoke which rises to heaven
IS said to be pleasing to Engai.

A private sacrifice is called kithangaona by the
Kamba people, its object being to purify a village from
sickness. The ceremony is also termed kuvindukia
muimu — “ to cleanse the place from the spirit ”
{ku-indukia — to cleanse) and may possibly have an
implied meaning to the effect that the spirit must be
appeased.

Sometimes a woman who goes into a cataleptic
condition, which is known as being seized by aiimu,
will say that to obtain rain a beast of a particular colour
must be sacrificed. A black goat is said to be prefer-
able as a supplication for rain, the colour probably
being symbolical of the rain clouds.

Sheep and goats, both male and female, are
sacrificed, and also bulls and bullocks, but never a cow.

A black bullock is thought to be the most acceptable
and a white sheep comes next, whilst many of the
Kamba people consider a red animal bad for the
purpose of sacrifice.

Sacred Places {Matheinbo) in U kamba. — Dotted
about the country, near most of the older villages,
there are sacred trees, representing private shrines,
called mathembo. The sacrifice which takes place
here is similar to that described above, but the proceed-
ings do not take so long, as the assembly is smaller.
There is no particular day of the month for such a
ceremony, but it should not be performed in the months
called Nyanya and Kenda (the month Nyanya in 1912
commenced on June 14th). Ikumi is suitable for a
sacrificial ceremony, as it is then considered possible
to prepare the fields for planting, in expectation of the
rain which will fall as a result of the ceremony.

Four pieces of the stalk of the castor oil bush are
planted at the foot of the sacred tree. If on a certain
day a man brews beer, he visits the tree in the evening
and pours a little of the beer into each of the castor

SACRIFICE 59

oil stems, and prays to the aiimu, saying, “ I have
made some beer, and this is your share ; do not come
into the village and bother us.” The castor oil
stalks are meant to imitate gourds of beer. It is
customary to deposit at the tree a piece of the fruit of
Kigelia finnata, or K. Musa (called miatini and used
in producing fermentation in beer), and the leaf of a
mumo tree. They then say, “ This is your nzeli to
drink the beer from,” the nzeli being a half gourd used
as a drinking cup, and the mumo leaf in this case
representing a nzeli. As these things decay, they are
periodically renewed.

The people of a village utter a prayer when they
see the new moon, begging that they may go safely
through the month. This bears a close resemblance
to the European habit of turning one’s money and
bowing nine times to the new moon. At the village
ithembo beer is poured out, generally on the advice
of a medicine man, when someone is ill in the village.

The sacrifice at the village ithembo usually takes
place about ten a.m., the people returning at noon.
On their arrival at the village, a mixture of iaiha and
water is sprinkled upon the cattle, and upon the water
pots of the village. This is called kikaela muyo and is
done for the benefit of those villagers who are not
qualified to go to the sacred place.

The women qualified to attend a ceremony at an
ithembo are those who are past the age of child-bearing
and have a husband who is a muhimia ya ithembo (an
elder of the ithembo'). A childless old woman may
also be allowed to go.

It often happens that during a ceremony at an
ithembo a woman is seized, or possessed, and passes
into a condition of semi-trance in which she will
prophecy either that the rains are coming or that they
will fail, or, in former days, that a Masai raid was
imminent. An explanation of this was carefully
sought, and, upon investigation, I was told that the
message came from the imu or spirit of the person of

60 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

olden times to whom the ithembo was dedicated and
to whom it was supposed to belong, but quite clearly,
that this spirit was only an intermediary, the message
really coming from the high god Engai or Mulungu.

A little house is always built at the foot of the
sacred tree on the east side, with the door facing the
rising sun, and two days before the time settled upon
for commencing planting a pot of water and one of
food, as well as butter and milk, are placed in it. On
the day following the deposit of this offering, no work
is done. These offerings are said to be for Engai',
the pot of water is a reminder that rain is required, and
the food represents the crops.

Sacrifices for Rain. — Kikuyu — If the elders go to
the sacred fig tree for rain they sacrifice the usual ram,
preferably a black one. If, on the other hand, they
pray for rain to cease, the sacrificial ram is preferably
a white one, although a red one may be used. After
the sacrifice, the intestines are taken and tied round
the stem high up in the tree. The melted tail fat is
then poured at the foot of the tree and a strip of the
meat and fat are hung on a branch.

Ukamba. — Among the Kamba a black goat should
be sacrificed for rain ; a red one, however, is occasion-
ally used. But whatever the colour of the animal
sacrificed, it is very important that it should be entirely
of one colour, and not spotted or parti-coloured. A
parti-coloured animal would probably be considered
as having some blemish. (C/. Deut. xviii. i : “ Thou
shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock
or sheep wherein is blemish or evil-favouredness ” ;
also Numbers xix. 2 : “ Speak unto the children of
Israel that they bring thee a red heifer without
spot.”)

The Kitui A-Kamba also have another curious
ceremony which they perform when their crops are in
danger of being spoilt for lack of rain. They snare
a couple of hyrax {Procavia sp:) and carry them round
the fields containing the standing crops; one is then

SACRIFICE

61

released, the other is killed. The heart, contents of
the stomach, and intestines of the victim are then taken
and placed on a fire which is lit among the crops. The
smoke of the sacrifice is said to be pleasing to the deity
[Engai). Cf. Exodus xxix : “ And burn them . . .
for a sweet savour before the Lord.” The carcase is
not eaten.

The use of a hyrax for sacrificial purposes is rather
curious, and may well be a relic of an old Semitic belief
in which the hyrax was thought to have possessed
originally the human shape. It was said that he who
eats of its flesh will never see father and mother
again.

The A-Kamba, however, appear to have lost sight
of any connection of this sort, and it is therefore
impossible to say whether it really existed ; the choice
of this curious animal may be merely a coincidence.

General Remarks on Sacred Places and Sacrifices.
— The way in which a particular tree is chosen as a
Ij sacred place was explained to me unhesitatingly in the
following manner : In a particular locality, long ago,
ji there would be a woman, noted as a prophetess or seer,

I whose prophecies always came true, and at her death
I she would be buried in her village. After a time, a
j woman of that village became possessed by the imu,
or spirit, of the deceased, and, in a state of exaltation,

I would speak in the name of the prophetess, saying :

I “ I cannot stay here, I am called by Engai, and I go
i to live at a certain tree ” (which would be specified).
The tree thus designated then acquired sanctity. Four
elders and four old women would then be selected;
taking some earth from her grave, and one (a blood
relation of the deceased) taking a goat, they would all
proceed to the tree. The earth was deposited at its
foot, the goat led thrice round the tree and then sacri-
ficed. The delegates then prayed ; “ We have brought
you to the tree you desire,” and a small hut was built
on the spot. This hut is renewed from time to time,

I usually before a great ceremony takes place at the tree.

62 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The elders who build the hut must have their heads
shaved next morning, but must shave one another, as
no one else is allowed to do it. They then hide their
hair. . (Note. — Hiding away of hair after it is cut or
shaved is a common custom among Africans; the
idea is supposed to be that an evil-disposed person
might use the hair as a medium for bewitching the
owner.)

An interesting and thoughtful paper on the
A-Kamba of Kitui, by Hon. C. Dundas, appeared in
the Journal R.A.I., 1913, and on page 534 et seq. the
writer discusses the religious beliefs of these people.
He has come to the conclusion that they have no con-
ception of a high god, and that the terms Engai and
Mulungu are merely collective words denoting the
plurality of the spiritual world. The present writer,
however, is unable to accept this opinion, for while
it is recognised that great confusion of thought may
exist on the subject among the bulk of the people, there
is little doubt that the elders of itkembo, or tribal
shrines, are quite clear on the matter. Great care was
taken to record only such information on the question
as was furnished by this grade of Kamba society.
And as the elders of iihembo correspond, in a measure,
to the priestly castes of more highly developed
communities, their opinion has a certain value, and
we therefore feel justified in saying that the Kamba
religion contains the concept of a high god. We
would also contend that the information herein
recorded contains internal evidence of this, and every
effort has been made not to read more into the informa-
tion than it actually contains. The fact that the writer
was known to have been duly recognised as an elder
among the neighbouring tribes, the Kikuyu, un-
doubtedly induced the elders to discuss these questions
with considerable freedom in his presence. The words
used to designate what may be conveniently termed
the high god are Engai, Mulungu, and sometimes
Chua (or the sun).

SACRIFICE 68

It is sometimes said that Engai lives in the high
mountains, Kenya for instance, and this would appear
to differentiate the great spirit from one which has its
origin in an ordinary human form. They insist also
that there is only one Engai. ’They say that if the
aiimu, or ancestral spirits, want to kill someone, Engai
or Mulungu can stop them, their explanation being
that although the aiimu can afflict a living person,
they cannot kill him unless Mulungu concurs.

There is a saying when anyone dies, “ Nundu wa
chua^' which means “ the order of the sun,” the obvious
inference of which is that death comes from the high

They are emphatic in stating that Engai, and not
the aiimu, brings the rain. It is said that a woman
will sometimes bear a child having a mark on its body
similar in position to that of a wound which caused the
death of a brother-in-law or some near relative in the
village. The deceased is supposed to have been seen
by Engai, and it is he who puts a similar mark on the
new-born child. I am not sure, however, that the
term Engai is not somewhat loosely used in this case,
as the imu of the deceased might well be held
responsible for such an occurrence.

Other confirmatory evidence of the presence of the
concept of a high god will be found in the account of
various ceremonies.

There is no doubt about the definition of the
concept of the hnu, and it can be translated as the
spirit of the deceased person.

The Kitui elders stated that the sacrificial fire for
cooking the meat at the ithembo must always be made
by friction, so as to avoid any such impurity or unclean-
ness being brought from a house as might occur were
burning embers from a household kitchen taken to
the tree.

No one who is under a thabu or tabu can take part
in a ceremony at an ithembo, nor must the muma or
kithito oath be taken on such an occasion. Inquiries

64 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

were made as to whether, in olden times, any of the
spoils of war were sacrificed at an ithembo, but this
was said not to have been the case.

When, as sometimes happens, a shooting star
appears to fall in an ithembo, it is supposed to be a
sign that Engai has descended to the ithembo and
demands food. Various kinds of food are then taken
there as offerings. It is, however, not usual to sacrifice
an animal. The shooting star falling on an ithembo
may be compared with the story of Jehovah appearing
to Moses in a burning bush, which seemed to burn and
yet not be consumed. It is here to be noted that it is
Engai who demands food, not the aiimu.

Sacrifice apparently is only performed when the
people desire to invoke help.

One elder only from each clan, mbai, can parti-
cipate in a ceremony at the ithembo on any particular
occasion, and, further, no elder whose father is alive
can go to the tree.

If in war an enemy took sanctuary at an ithembo
he was allowed to stay there unmolested, and was safe;
at night he escaped. If, again, he caught hold of an
elder of ithembo, he was equally safe; the elder would
take him to his village and send one of his sons to
convey him safely out of the country. It is considered
that this fact emphasises the priestly position of the
elders of ithembo, who must, at all cost, avoid the stain
of death.

If a snake is seen at a sacred place it is customary
to pour milk, butter, and gruel over it; it is supposed
to be njoka ya aiimu (snake of the aiimu).

Arms must not be taken to an ithembo, small knives
to skin the sacrificial animals only being allowed.

No bird or beast can be killed at a sacred tree in
the grove which generally surrounds it.

Should a sacred tree, of the old communal
7nathembo kind, fall down, the people will still worship
on the site.

If a village which possesses one of the small

KIKUYU MI'THURl OR ELDER.

(V iDiintifhoiis fyV'-’)

SACRIFICE 65

mathemho is moved, the assistance of a medicine
woman is sought for the selection of another one near
the new site for the village. The elders take her to
the old tree and leave her there all night in solitary
vigil ; in the morning she is fetched and taken to the
new tree.

When the elders return from sacrificing at a sacred
tree, each takes a small piece of the skin of the sacri-
ficial animal and ties it on the thorn fence near his
hut. It is believed, however, that this would not be
allowed in the case of a great communal gathering
to pray for rain, such as previously described.

The sacrificial animal is provided by the elders
of ithemho in rotation.

It is said that before going to war a black goat
was sacrificed at the ithembo, and success was prayed
for.

Upon returning from a successful raiding expedi-
tion, they went to the organiser of the party, the
muthiani, killed the biggest ox, and prayed to Engai
as a thanksgiving ceremony. This did not take place
at the ithembo, as, in all probability, they dared not go
to the ithembo with any suspicion of bloodstain upon
them.

The Kamba belief that the spirits like to haunt
certain sacred fig trees is very widespread, and there
is one factor connected with it which is common to the
whole area in which the belief is found, and that is
that sacrilegious trespassers in a sacred grove are
assailed by showers of missiles. Such incidents are
often alleged to occur in India, and, apart from native
superstition, the writer has even heard of two examples
in East Africa, where European colonists, who had no
knowledge of these beliefs but had built in the vicinity
of sacred fig trees, asserted that they were periodically
disturbed at night by stones thrown on the roofs of
their houses. In Phil Robinson’s well-known book,
“ In my Indian Garden ” (page 208), it is stated that in
Burmah to this day the Government pays a fee, called

E

66 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

murung, to the headmen of certain tracts for appeasing
the manes of their ancestors lodged in old sal trees.

Robertson Smith also quotes an old authority to the
effect that fig, carob, and sycamore trees are haunted
by devils.

The belief in ghosts is widespread in Kitui, and
people who allege that they occasionally see the
ghosts of human beings are not uncommon. They
do not appear to be terrified about it, but state that
they call out to the apparition to verify its immaterial
character, and if no reply is received they know that
it belongs to the aiimu. If, however, a ghost is seen,
it is necessary for the observer to kill a ram and smear
his face with some of the purifying tatha, together with
some of the ram’s fat.

We thus see that when a shrine is established,
tradition and the continual use of it for worship sancti-
fies it and maintains its position in the popular mind.
As the authority previously quoted points out ; “ Holy
places are older than temples, and older than the
beginnings of settled life.”

It is also interesting to note how the old Canaanife
high places were associated with a tree or grove of
trees. This is considered by some authorities as an
indication of an ancient cult of tree worship. There is
little evidence of the survival of such a cult among the
people under consideration, but an account has been
given of a ceremony which has to be performed when
a large solitary tree in a clearing is cut down, and
certain rites have to be performed to transfer either
the spirit of the tree to a new abode or perhaps human
spirits resident in the tree.

There is, however, little doubt that the ancient
altars erected under trees were a later development
of worship which originally took place at the tree
without any altar. It is said that our English maypole
is a degraded survival of the worship under trees.
Generally speaking, in ancient Arabia the gifts of the
worshippers were presented to the deity by being laid

SACRIFICE 67

on sacred ground, often at the foot of a sacred tree,
or they were hung on it, and when libations of
sacrificial blood or other things were offered, they
were poured either there or over a sacred stone. All
this might have been written of our African peoples
of to-day, and one cannot, therefore, be accused of
special pleading in inviting attention to the similarity
of practice.

It is supposed that the ceremonial dedication of
the foundation of a sacred building is a direct survival
of the rites which took place in ancient times when a
new “ holy place ” was formerly recognised and
adopted.

The ancient flavour will be detected in the follow-
ing extract from the account of the proceedings which
took place a few years ago upon the occasion of the
laying of the foundation stone of a Jewish synagogue,
in British East Africa, the sacrificial nature of the
rites being very noticeable :

“ Corn, wine, and oil were presented to His Excellency by
three prominent Freemasons. His Excellency strewed the
corn on the stone, and the bearer of the corn said :

“ ‘ There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top
of the mountains, the fruit thereof shall make Lebanon, and
they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.’

“His Excellency poured the wine on the stone, and the
bearer of the wine said :

“ ‘ And for a drink offering thou shalt offer him a third part
of a bin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.’

“ His Excellency poured oil on the stone, the bearer of the
oil said ;

“ ‘ And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an
ointment compound after the art of apothecary, it shall be an
holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of
the congregation therewith and the Ark of the testimony.’

“ Benediction — ‘ May the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob, shower down his choicest blessings upon this Synagogue
about to be erected for His Honour, and may He grant a full
supply of the Corn of Nourishment, the Wine of Refreshment,
and the Oil of Joy.’ ”

Making of Fire {Kamba of Kibwejsi). — The fire

68 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

required for sacrificial purposes was formerly always
made anew by friction, as fire so produced could carry
no evil with it, whereas if firebrands were brought from
a hut some thabu or curse which rested on the family
owning the hut might inadvertently be brought with it,
and the wood might in fact be infected.

Nowadays, however, it is curious to note that a
sacrificial fire is lighted with matches ; for they con-
sider that these, being of foreign origin, can bring no
infection derived from Kamba spirit influence. This
gives some insight into the ratiocination of the native
mind.

Fire was formerly made, and is still made, on
occasion, by hunters and others who rapidly rotate a
piece of hard stick, held vertically between the hands,
in a cup-shaped cavity cut in a piece of soft wood which
is held between the toes, the friction generating enough
heat to produce sparks which light some tinder. The
vertical stick is called the male, and the other piece
the female, the reasons for which nomenclature are
obvious.

It is curious to note that a woman is not allowed
to make fire by friction, the reason given for this being
that a man has to squat to make fire, and that if a
woman does the same, it is unseemly, as she thereby
exposes her nakedness. It is believed, however, that
there is more in it than this, and that only a male is
really supposed to manipulate the masculine portion of
the fire-making apparatus.

CHAPTER III

SACRED STONES OR VILLAGE SHRINES IN KIKUYU

When the Kikuyu people found a new village, the
elder of the family collects three stones, two being
brought from the bed of a river to the north of the
village, the direction from which the tribe migrated,
and one from a river to the south of the village. The
river in the north is generally the Thika, and the river
in the south is generally the Mbagathi. The stones
must not be collected from a river from which the
villagers take water for their domestic use, and it must
also be a river with a perennial flow.

These stones usually weigh from thirty to forty
pounds, and are used as a village shrine. Having
obtained the stones, the people take a black ram, sew
up its left eye, and bury it in the middle of the village.
This is done with the idea that if anyone comes to
bring bad magic to the people of the village, he will,
like the ram, lose the sight of one eye. The three
;Stones are then planted round the spot where the ram
is buried. Four people carry out this ceremony: the
head of the village, another elder of the same clan,
and the two senior wives of the village head. They
break branches from the mutumaiyu, mukenya, and
muthakwa trees and plant them round the spot. If
they take root, it is considered a very good omen ; if
the branches die, however, they are replaced periodi-
cally by fresh ones.

Whenever a sacrifice is made in the village, in con-
nection with any ceremony, the ram is killed near this
spot and blood and fat are poured into the ground

69

70 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

between the stones. Meat for the spirits is always put
out in two heaps, one for the male and one for the
female spirits. It is believed that if the stones are
obtained from strong flowing rivers, they will help to
protect the village from nocturnal thieves. Moreover,
the stones from the rivers to the north of the village
will stop the entrance of bad ngoma or spirits coming
from that direction, and similarly, the stones from the
south will form a protection against the evil spirits
from that direction.

The stones are not supposed to possess a spirit, but
if a stone is stolen it is looked upon as a terrible crime.
The thief is said to have, by its possession, the power
to inflict a serious curse upon the village, whenever it
was stolen. When the stone is missed, the head of the
village collects the kiania, or council of elders, and
presents them with a fee of a ram and a bullock, which
are killed. They tell the owner to wait three days, and
if by then the stone is not returned, they bring him
the kithathi on which to curse the thief. In all
probability, the stone is secretly returned by night;
if not, the owner curses the thief on the kithathi, and
some time afterwards it will be found that two or
three people have died mysteriously in a certain village
and the stone is brought back. The owner of the stone
will then kill a sheep, and place strips of the skin,
rukivaru, upon the right wrist of all the men, and upon
the left ankle of all the women in the thief’s village.
After this, they all go to a river and are purified on
the bank of it by a mundu mugo, or medicine man.
They then bathe in the river and are marked on their
foreheads by a vertical mark made with ira, or white
earth, and return home. The owner of the stones now
presents a ram or male goat to the elders of kiama, to
show that the trouble is over. It is said that no theft
of this kind has occurred in recent years.

The sacred stones are called Kithangona ya muchi,
which may be interpreted as “ village shrine ” or altar.
The Swahili equivalent is Mathbah ya Kafara ya

SACRED STONES IN KIKUYU 71

miji; mathbah is evidently the same as the Arabic
masseba. It is believed to be associated particularly
with the ngoma, or ancestral spirits, and has no con-
nection with the deity. They may perhaps believe
that the stones form a resting-place for the beneficent
ngoma of their ancestors, or that they indicate a spot
where the villagers can render service to the spirits.
The former interpretation is the more likely ; why,
otherwise, should there be such trouble when one
is stolen? These stones must never be used as
seats.

The same idea occurs in Bantu Kavirondo, where
these stones are to be found in each village. Mumia
pointed out such a shrine, decked round with white
feathers, where a fowl was periodically killed and the
blood poured between the stones. The stones were
said to have come from the north of the Nzoia River,
from a place whence the Wanga clan were supposed to
have migrated.

Some years ago, one of these stones was stolen by
a complainant who alleged that he could not get a
hearing in a case regarding the debt of a cow. The
whole country-side was upset at the loss ; the suit
was immediately heard and disposed of, and eventually
the stone was returned. The incident clearly showed
what importance was attached to these apparently
insignificant objects.

If a Kikuyu village is moved, the stones are moved
to the new village, a fresh ram being buried in the new
spot. Before the stones are removed, the head of the
village and his senior wife pour out honey-beer and
sugar-cane beer on the space between the stones, which
can then be removed with impunity. When a brew of
honey-beer is made a little of the honey is poured out
between the stones, and when the beer is fermented, a
libation is also poured there.

The writer recently witnessed the celebration of
the morning prayer at a village shrine. The principal
wife brought sugar-cane beer and poured some into a

72 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

cow horn and some into a small U shaped gourd. The
elder, who was head of the village, then poured the
beer, first from the horn on to the trees growing between
the stones, and then from the gourd. He now uttered
a prayer with great solemnity, and called upon the
spirits to grant good fortune to the village and also to
the visitor. He prayed for wealth in lixe stock, abun-
dance of children, safety in journeying, and so forth.
As the prayer proceeded another elder responded
solemnly. The beer from the horn was a libation to
the male spirits; that from the gourd to the female
spirits. The horn had a knob carved on the end, the
origin of which might be phallic.

CHAPTER ly

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HARVEST, ALSO PLANTING

CEREMONIAL

It is interesting to compare all this with the Mosaic
ritual laid down in Exodus xxiii. 19; “ The first of the
firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of
the Lord thy God.” This is the Levitical minha or
tribute.

Robertson Smith’s “ Religion of the Semites,” p.
241, states: Among the Hebrews, as among other
agricultural peoples, the offering of firstfruits was con-
nected with the idea that it is not lawful or safe to eat
of the new fruit until the god has received his due.
The offering makes the whole crop lawful food, but
it does not render it holy food ; nothing is consecrated
except the small portion offered at the altar, and of the
remaining store clean persons and unclean can eat alike
during the year. This, therefore, is quite a different
thing from the consecration of animal sacrifices, for in
the latter case the whole flesh is holy, and only those
who are clean can eat of it ” (C/. Lev. xxiii. 10-21).

Professor Robertson Smith also points out that in
Hosea’s time the firstfruits of corn were offered at the
shrines of the Baalim, who had become recognised as
the giver of rain and the author of all fertility. This
principle, it will be seen, agrees as closely as possible
with the ideas of the tribes under review.

In Kikuyu, the people do not appear to take the
firstfruits to the sacred tree formally before reaping the
crop, but on the occasion of each harvest the women
will take offerings of the various cereal foods — maize,

78

74 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

millet, and so forth (also beans, sugar cane, etc.)— to
the sacred place. They are not allowed to go right
up to the tree, but pour their gifts on the ground near
by. All such food must be uncooked. This being
done, they return, and the elders kill either a young
ewe which has not yet borne a lamb, or a ram, at a little
distance from the tree, and ^ rukwaru, or strip of skin,
is placed on the left wrist of each of the women. The
elders then eat the meat ; none is actually taken to the
tree or left there. It is a kind of harvest thanksgiving
ceremony.

First fruits in Ukamba. — It is customary to eat a
certain quantity of the maize cobs or the bean crop before
they ripen. But before this can be done a little of each
kind is reaped and laid at the ithembo by an elder and
an old woman, and a goat is sacrificed. The tatha, or
stomach contents of the goat, are mixed with the green
food in a cooking pot and boiled. A portion of this
is then distributed to each village, after which the green
crops can be safely eaten.

Next comes the proper harvest, but before reaping
can commence the owners again consult the medicine
man whose advice was previously sought at sowing
time. They take him a present of every kind of
grain, and so forth, reaped at the previous harvest,
and he gives his advice as to a propitious day for the
ceremony. The elders then gather the firstfruits of
the harvest and assemble at the village meeting-place
{ihomi) of one of the senior elders and sacrifice a goat.
Then, as above, they cook samples of the various
products in a big pot together with the tatha of the
goat. When the food is ready, the women from
the villages round come and receive some of it, which
is placed on leaves.

It is said that were this ceremony to be omitted,
the people would be afflicted with diarrhoea, and
would presumably become the victims of thabu. But
when it is concluded, they may reap and eat of the
crop without fear or hindrance.

FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HARVEST 75

Curiously enough, this ceremony is not considered
necessary for the mbaazi crop {Cajanus indicus or
pigeon pea). The people give no explanation of this,
but it may be that the pigeon pea was introduced from
Kikuyu or elsewhere, after the belief had developed,
and was therefore excluded.

A housewife having gathered into her granary
{ikumba) all her crops, must not cohabit with her
husband the night on which she has completed her
harvest.

A present of a little of the new grain has to be
made to the medicine man who advised the people
where to plant.

If a woman has had assistance from her neighbours
in the harvest-field she makes a feast of all kinds of
food ; no men are present, as they have nothing to do
with it. There is no dancing on such an occasion.

The next thing is the threshing of the grain, and
before the mawele grain, and according to some the
mbaazi pea, can be threshed, permission must be
sought from a medicine man who specialises in agri-
cultural magic. In Kibwezi district no one has any
leave to thresh mawele until the elders have sacrificed
at the ithembo. It is said that if anyone breaks this
prohibition the particular area will miss the mvua ya
ua, or the second portion, of the next big rains.
These are the showers which bring the grain into head
and fill out the seed, and thus they will miss their
crops. The first half of the rains grow the stem and
leaves, and the second half bring the plant to fruition.

Again, if a woman has the assistance of her neigh-
bours she will make a feast for them at the completion
of the threshing.

Planting of Crops and Harvest. — In Ukamba,
before the sowing of the grain is commenced a
medicine man is usually consulted with regard to the
proper season and the prospect of good rains.

When these preliminaries are settled, the elders of
ithembo and the old women are summoned to the

76 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

ithembo. The men bring a goat and the women bring
milk and offerings of grain contributed by the villages
of the neighbourhood.

The goat is sacrificed at the sacred tree ; some of
the blood and the beer are poured out as libations,
an offering of the cereals is made, prayers for good
crops are offered, and the meat and food is then eaten
and the beer is drunk by the worshippers.

They then go away and commence to plant with
a light heart. After planting, however, a woman must
not cohabit with her husband until the grain has
sprouted and appeared above ground. Should, how-
ever, ceremonial cohabitation become necessary in
connection with some other religious observance, the
woman must first go and dig up a seed of each species
of food product which has been planted and bring it
back to the village.

If any man plants before the proper sacrifice has
taken place, the elders will fine him a goat, which has
to be sacrificed at the ithembo as an atonement.
Further, the grain which has been sown has, as far as
it is possible, to be dug up, collected and returned to the
village. If it is left in the ground, it is supposed not
to mature, and also Engai might be angry with the
community at large.

The people of Ulu (Ukamba) again, often perform
another fertility ceremony to ensure good crops. They
take the dung of the hyrax, which is called kinyoi
ngilla in Kikamba, and mix it with the powdered
root of the mulinditi tree and a weed called waithu.
This medicine is then mixed with some of the seed
which they propose to plant and burnt together with
some of the dry weeds collected from the field. The
fire is made in such a position that the smoke drifts
across the field. The ashes of this fire are then mixed
with the seed about to be sown. In Kitui, however, it
is said that a live hyrax is carried round the field by a
procession of villagers, the animal being then killed and
its blood and entrails scattered over the field.

CHAPTER V

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL

One of the most important factors in the life history of
all natives is the formal initiation to the tribe, of which
the outward sign is usually the ceremony of circum-
sion. In Kikuyu these rites have attained some
elaboration, and it is important to describe them in
detail.

It will later be seen in Chapter VII how deeply the
division of the Kikuyu tribe into the two guilds,
Kikuyu and Masai, ^ affects their customs, and in the
following description the rites of the two guilds are
described separately.

Before a child reaches the age of circumcision, how-
ever, a ceremony called Ku-chiaruo ringi has to be
gone through, which means “ to be born again.” It
must be undergone by young children before they are
eligible for the next stage of initiation, viz., circum-
cision.

The occurrence of these two ceremonies, connected
as they are, cannot fail to strike one as being, in a lower
stage of civilisation, the genesis of the idea of the sacra-
ments of baptism and confirmation. It is said in fact

* Members of the Kikuyu tribe from birth to old agre pass throug-h
various grades of initiation, but the ceremonial observed is of two
classes, one of which is referred to by the natives as the Kikuyu
system, and the other the Masai system. The Kikuyu system is
probably the older, whilst the so-called Masai system is probably
contact metamorphism due to the proximity of tiie Masai and the
partial intermingling which has occurred from time to time.
Curiously enough, the Masai system bears very little resemblance to
the Masai customs of the present day, so presumably it has been
modified to fit in with the psychology of the Kikuyu who adopted it.

77

78 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

that some of the missionaries do not hesitate to explain
the two Christian doctrines mentioned by reference to
the two pagan ones, and state that with the help of
this key the natives at once grasp the idea of their
doctrines.

But to return to the ceremony itself — the form
varies with the guild of the parents. According to the
fashion of the Masai guild, about eight days after the
birth of the child, be it male or female,' the father of
the infant kills a male sheep and takes the meat to the
house of the mother, who eats it with her neighbours
if they belong to the Masai guild. At the conclusion
of the feast, the mother is adorned with the skin from
the left foreleg and shoulder of the sheep, the piece of
skin being fastened from her left wrist to left shoulder ;
this she wears for four days, when it is taken off and
thrown on to her bed, where it remains till it disappears.
The mother and child have their heads shaved on the
day this ceremony takes place; it has no connection
with the naming of the child, which is done on the day
of its birth.

The ceremony of Ku-chiaruo ringi, according to
the fashion of the Kikuyu guild, is as follows in S.
Kikuyu. The day after the birth a male sheep is killed
and some of its fat is cooked in a pot and given to the
mother and infant to drink. It was not specifically
stated whether this had a direct connection with the rite
referred to, but the description commenced with a
mention of this. When the child reaches the age of
from three to six years the father kills a male sheep,
and three days later the novice is adorned with part
of the skin and the skin of the big stomach. These
skins are fastened on the right shoulder of a boy or on
the left shoulder of a girl. The skin used for a boy
has, however, the left shoulder and leg cut out of it, and
that for a girl has the right shoulder and leg cut away.
The child wears these for three days, and on the
fourth day the father cohabits with the mother of the
child.

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 79

There is, however, one important point, and that
is that before the child is decorated with the sheep skin
it must go and lie alongside its mother on her bed and
cry out like a newly born infant. Only after this
ceremony has been performed is the child eligible for
circumcision.

A few days after circumcision the child returns to
sleep on a bed in its mother’ s hut, but the father has to
kill a sheep before he can return, and the child must
drink some of the blood, the father also having to
cohabit with the mother upon the occasion.

Owing to similarity of name it is possible that the
ceremony of Ku-chiaruo ringi might be confused with
Ku-chiaruo kungi, which is of widely different signifi-
cance. This latter is an adoption ceremony, and is
said to be similar to a Swahili rite called ndugu
Kuchanjiana. If a person has no brothers or parents
he will probably try to obtain the protection of some-
wealthy man and his family. If such a man agrees
to adopt him he takes a male sheep and slaughters
it, and the suppliant takes another one. The elders are
assembled and slaughter these sheep, strips of the skin
{rukwaru) being taken from the right foot and from the
chest of each sheep and tied round each person’s hand,
while each is decorated with strips of skin from the
sheep of the other party. The poor man is then con-
sidered as the son of the wealthy one, and when the
occasion arises the latter pays out live stock to buy a
wife for his adopted son.

The Kamba people, at any rate the Kitui section,
have nothing corresponding to the Ku-chiaruo ringi
rite of the Kikuyu, but when the child is about six
months old it is moved from its mother’s bed and thence-
forward sleeps on a little bed by itself. If the husband
cohabits with his wife during this period the child has
to be placed on the mother’s back.

Circumcision. — As previously mentioned, the
A-Kikuyu are circumcised according to two systems,
some according to one and some according to the other.

80 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

(1) Ku-ruithia ukabi, i.e., Masai fashion.

(2) Ku-ruithia u Kikuyu or Gikuyu^ i.e., Kikuyu

fashion.

The actual surgical operation is the same, but
according to the Masai system the boys stay and sleep
in the hut for four days after the operation, and then
go out, shoot birds, and wear the skins of the birds on
the head and neck. When. the new moon appears their
heads are shaved, and each one then goes to his home.
The head of the village cannot sleep in the hut
where the circumcised youths are staying until they
are well.

According to the Kikuyu system the youths remain
in the hut for eight days ; on the day of the operation a
sheep is killed, and on the ninth day the father of the
children takes them away to their homes. The head
of the village sleeps in the hut where the youths stay
after the operation has taken place.

Those circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion hold
the feast called Mambura the day before the operation ;
the writer recently witnessed one of these gatherings,
and so is able to describe it with some accuracy. It
was held at a village between the Mathari and Thigiri
streams, and was on the twelfth day of the moon, so
there does not appear to be any particular significance
as to date. Several thousand people of both sexes had
collected to dance and take part in the festivities ; the
warriors were dressed in their war paint and had their
bodies smeared with red or grey paint, and in some cases
were picked out with star-like patterns. The women
were all in their best, and freely smeared with red ochre
and oil ; a large collection of elders was there, and the
chief was present, as he explained, in order to keep
order and prevent the young warriors from quarrelling.
Over the gate of the village two long pieces of sugar
cane were fastened, and all who entered the village were
supposed to pass underneath. The entrance of the
village was also guarded by a bag of medicines belong-
ing to a mundu mugo ; these were supposed to prevent

KIKUYU CllU'UMCISlO.N FEAST.

SUGAT! CANES OVEK A ILLAGE GATE.
EATING CEIiEMONTAL FOOD.

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 81

anyone coming into the village to bewitch the candi-
dates. In the morning the elders of kiama slaughtered
a big male goat, nihengi, by strangulation, and each
male candidate for circumcision had a strip of the skin
fastened round his right wrist, the same strip being
also carried over the back of his hand and his second
finger passed through a slit in it. The male candidates
were nude with the exception of a string of beads or
so, and a necklace made of a creeper called ngurwa\
the girls were nude as far as clothes went, but were
enveloped in strings of beads from their necks to below
their waists. Much dancing took place till a little after
two p.m., when there was a ceremonial meal. The
candidates came into the village in Indian file, the
girls leading the way. They were received in front of
the hut, where they were to reside temporarily after the
operation, by a few elders who had for some time been
preparing a number of strips of a vegetable creeper,
and smearing them with a black oily mixture. Each
girl first came up and had a piece of the creeper
fastened round her left ankle. The creeper is called
ruTuera, and each piece is smeared with medicine made
from the umu and wan^ondu plants mixed with
castor oil. One of the elders then took a handful of
porridge made of wimbi and mtama meal (eleusine grain
and sorghum), and placed some on a bundle of twigs
of the mararia bush and offered it to each candidate ;
the candidate bit a little piece and then spat it out on the
ground, the balance was then placed in her hand and she
ate it. The porridge was placed on a flat stone used for
grinding corn. The boys then came along one by one,
and the ceremony was repeated in the same manner,
but the strip of creeper was fastened on the right
ankle of each boy. It was stated that the object of this
portion of the ceremony was to lessen the pain suffered
by the candidates during the actual operation.

In another part of the village a man was complet-
ing five stools of white wood, roughly hewn out of the
solid, which were intended as special seats for the

F

82 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

elders and old women who had to perform the
ceremony.

Immediately after the ceremonial meal was finished
a great rush occurred, and the candidates, followed by
the crowd, galloped off to a mugumu, fig tree, about
three hundred yards away; as they approached it, the
boys threw clubs and sticks up into the tree, and then
commenced to climb into the branches, hacking
savagely the whole time at the leaves and twigs ; each
youth had a light club with the head sharpened to a
blunt cutting edge, and by dint of vigorous hacking
gradually broke off small branches which fell down
among the crowd below, and were immediately seized by
the people, some of whom at once began to strip off
the bark.

The bark was supposed to be used to bind round
the heads of the candidates. The people then danced
round the tree, and this ended the proceedings. The
leaves of the fig tree are collected and strewn in the hut
where the candidates sleep after the operation. They
are said to be for the purpose of catching the blood, and
possibly to prevent the hut being defiled by the blood
soaking into the earthen floor. They would never throw
sticks into, or gather leaves from, a sacred mugumu
tree.

The actual operation was not seen, as it took place
at dawn the following morning; it is performed in the
open near the village. The bulk of the prepuce is not
cut off at all, but forms an excrescence below the glans,
a small piece of skin only being cut off ; ft is thrown
away, and not buried.

At the similar operation in Ukamba the prepuce is
left on the leaves on which the youth is seated during
the operation and thrown away with them.

The neophyte is placed on a bed of leaves for the
operation, as it is very bad for the blood to fall on the
earth. If anyone touches the blood it is considered
unlucky and he must cohabit with his wife, and the
mother of the child with her husband, and no harm wiJJ
ensue.

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 83

Mambura F estivities Preceding Circumcision
According to Masai Fashion. — The festival which
precedes circumcision according to the Masai fashion
was also witnessed. It was originally to have been
held at full moon, but bad weather caused its post-
ponement till the twenty-fifth day of the moon, which
seemed to be equally propitious.

In the morning a sheep was killed and eaten by
the elders, and at about noon the candidates had
assembled. The people of the village and the candi-
dates passed their time in dancing until the prepara-
tions were completed. The male candidates were
smeared from head to foot with ashes, and were nude
with the exception of a belt of iron chain {munyoro),
a bead necklet {kinyata), an iron dancing bell {kigamba)
on the right leg near the knee ; some wore a ring of the
ngurwa vine round their necks. The girls were decor-
ated from neck to waist with a load of beads as in the
Kikuyu form of the ceremony.

The first proceeding was the decoration of each of
the male candidates with a bracelet made of climbing
euphorbiaceous plant called mwimba iguru.

The elders of kiama and the wives of the owner of
the village, who was one of the elders, sat round in a
circle in the middle of the village with a quantity of
tendrils of the plant on a wicker tray, kitaruru, in the
centre ; a small gourd of white diatomaceous earth, ira,
was produced, and each person licked a little and then
smeared a small portion of the white earth on his throat
and navel ; this was to purify himself for the ceremony.
A horn cup of honey-beer was then produced, each one
taking a sip, and then all simultaneously blowing it out
of their mouths in spray on to the plant ; it was said that
the object of this was to purify or dedicate the plant to
the use to which it was to be applied. The male can-
didates then came up one by one and a bracelet of the
creeper was fastened on the right wrist of each.

After a little more dancing the male candidates were
seated in a row on ox-hides spread out on the ground ;

84 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

a woman, the sister of the owner of the village, came
along and poured first a little milk and then a little
honey-beer on the head of the one on the left of the
line ; she smeared it over the scalp and shaved a place
on the right side of his head and passed on to the next.
The shaving was merely ceremonial, as the candidates
had all been shaved on the head before coming to the
ceremony — the native razor, ruenji, being used. The
milk was in a gourd and the beer in a cow horn. The
male candidates then got up, and the same performance
was gone through with the girls.

Shortly after this two great branches from the
mutamaiyu tree were brought to the gate of the village
and held upright, one on each side of the entrance;
the elders said that in the ceremonies according to
Masai fashion the mutamaiyu had the same significance
as the mugumti tree had in the Kikuyu ceremonial.
The candidates came through the village dancing and
singing all the time up to near the mutamaiyu branches,
and stopped a few yards away from them, still dancing
and singing. The song did not appear to have any
great significance, being to the effect that from time
immemorial they always had the mutamaiyu at these
festivals, and now it had come they could proceed to
circumcise the candidates according to old custom.

They then all returned to the village, and the candi-
dates were arranged in the order in which they could be
circumcised on the morrow. The owner of the village
divested himself of his blanket and donned an oily
kaross made of goatskin from which all the hair had
been scraped ; his hands were carefully wiped and some
ira (the white earth previously mentioned) was poured
into the palm of his hand from a small gourd. He then
commenced at the left of the line and anointed each
candidate on different parts of the body with smears of
the white earth; he was assisted by his principal wife
and two sisters and another elder.

The boys were first touched on the tongue, and a
line was then drawn down the forehead to the point of

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 85

the nose; a spot was placed on the throat, the navel,
the palm of each hand, and finally between the big toe
and first toe.

The procedure with the girls was slightly different,
the tongue being smeared first, and a horizontal line
then drawn across the forehead. The palms of the
hands and the navel were next smeared, and finally a
band was drawn round each ankle.

After the candidates had thus been anointed, the
elders took mouthfuls of honey-beer out of a horn and
blew it in spray over each candidate’s head and
shoulders. This part of the proceedings was a cere-
mony intended to purify the candidates from any thahu
which might be on them, and to protect them from any
thahu which they might possibly get from an onlooker.
The spectators “ ululued ” loudly during this
operation.

It was then about two p.m., and nothing further of
importance took place ; the crowd, which had been
gradually growing, however, danced on till sundown.

At nightfall each candidate was said to receive
a dose of the crushed seeds of a plant called ngaita,
which acted as an aperient, and in the morning before
the operation each one had to bathe in water in which
an axe head had been placed to make it cold ; it was,
however, stated that if there were a large number, some
would not bother about this, but would bathe in the
nearest stream.

The operation took place at dawn on the following
morning, and was not witnessed. No firewood but that
from the mutamaiyu tree is allowed to be used in the
hut where the candidates live after the operation.

This custom of circumcision according to the two
different systems applies to both sexes. Both classes
dance with the oval wooden shields called ndomi before
circumcision, and travel through the district painted in
zig-zag stripes with white clay.

A man circumcised according to Masai fashion can
marry a girl circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion

86 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

and vice versa ; but a medicine man and the elders have
to perform a ceremony to change the girl from Kikuyu
to Masai before the marriage can take place. The
ceremony is said to be as follows ; a male sheep is killed,
and the small intestines are extracted. The medicine
man and the girl take hold of them, and the elders then
cut the intestines with three pieces of wood sharpened
to a knife edge and made of mathakwa, mukeo, and
mukenya bushes. A piece of intestine is cut with each
knife. The girl is then anointed with the fat of the
sheep by another woman and smeared over with iatha
(the stomach contents) mixed with water.

In the case of a marriage between a couple belong-
ing to different guilds the man never changes; it is
always the woman who relinquishes the system in which
she was brought up. A man can, however, at his own
wish and for reasons of his own, change his guild ; that
is to say a man brought up Masai fashion can change
over to the Kikuyu side. It is a much simpler matter
for him than for a woman; a male sheep is killed by
the elders, and a medicine man then comes and puts
him through the ordinary purification ceremony.

A man usually belongs to the guild of his father;
that is to say, he is circumcised according to the system
of his father and grandfather before him. The mark
of a person circumcised Masai fashion is as follows :
a copper ring is placed in the lower lobe of each ear,
and a piece of stick with an ostrich feather on it is
bound on each side of the head ; a band of sanseviera
fibre, ndivai^ is bound round the forehead, and on
this band bird skins are fastened.

These ornaments are worn for eight days only;
bows and arrows are also carried and sandals are worn.
After eight days they put off the ornaments and give
up the bows and arrows, leaving them in the village
where they were circumcised. They then have their
heads shaved at the village and return home.

Those circumcised Kikuyu fashion go through

* Ol-divai is the Masai word for the wild Sanseviera.

MUGUMO ” FIG TREE TO GATHER LEAVES.

CLIMBING THE

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 87

none of this, but for two days wear a strip of banana
fibre, maigoia, in the lobe of each ear. During five
days after recovery they also wear in their ears a round
plug of nmnunga wood whitened on the top with ira
and a necklace of the leaves of the mutatki plant.
This is probably a protective magic to preserve them
from evil influence during their convalescence.

The marks just enumerated only apply to the
male sex. With regard to girls, further inquiry has
elicited the following facts : a girl whose father belongs
to the Masai guild wears rings of copper called
ndogonyi on each ankle. A girl whose father belongs
to the Kikuyu guild wears an anklet of iron with little
rattles, called nyara runga, attached to it.

If a girl who is Masai marries a man who is Kikuyu
the ndogonyi are taken off at marriage. If a girl who
is Kikuyu marries a man who is Masai she does not,
however, discard the nyara runga.

The elaborate ceremonial of old days in connection
with circumcision is now rapidly dying out in Southern
Kikuyu.

Inquiries were made as to whether the bull-roarer,
which is well known in Kikuyu as kiburuti, was used
in these ceremonies, but curiously enough it appears
to survive only as a child’s toy, whereas in many of
the neighbouring tribes it and its first cousin, the
friction drum, are regularly used in initiation
ceremonial.

Among the Kikuyu, two men circumcised at the
same ceremony cannot go into each other’s huts or
even touch one another and neither may their children
by their first wives. The prohibition may be removed
by an exchange of goats, or beer, which both families
consume together in a hut. This prohibition does not
extend to children of younger wives or to grand-
children. It does not appear to be connected in any
way with thabu, but a penalty of a goat or two is paid
for breach of the custom.

Generations of the A-Kikuyu. — The description of

88 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the circumcision may be concluded by an enumeration
of the circumcision ages of the Kikuyu as far back as
they can be traced.

In the December number of Man, 1908, the late
Hon. K. Dundas gives a list of the Rika or circumci-
sion ages of the A-Kikuyu which probably goes back
about one hundred years or so, but this enumeration
did not go sufficiently into detail, and certain important
points were missed, so it has now been revised.

Four well-known elders, named Katonyo wa
Munene, Karanja wa Hiti, Ithonga wa Kaithuma,
and Mukuria wa Mucheru, were consulted, and the
following lists are probably as reliable as can be
expected, dependent as. they unavoidably are on the
memory of old men. The first list was given me by
the first two, the second list by the second two. There
are slight variations, but these are almost inevitable
under the circumstances.

Morika, or Muhurika, singular — Rika, plural, is
the circumcision age or generation, and corresponds
more or less to the foror among the Masai. The
Rika called Manjiri, Mamba, Manduti, and Chuma
were not recognised by either of the elders, who both
commenced their count with Chiira, which is obviously
the same as Shiera of Dundas’s paper, and possibly
the farther north one goes among the Kikuyu tribe the
farther back do their legends go.

The following is the list beginning at the most
remote point :

Veesion I

I. Chiira.

2. Mat hat hi.

3. Endemi.

4. Iregi

These three, it is said, are often
grouped as Iregi.

5. Kiarie

6. Kamao

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 89

10.

11.

12.

13-

14.

>

The fathers of the oldest men
alive in the country be-
longed to these ages, and
are called Maina.

7. Kinuthia

8. Karanja

9. Njuguna
Kinyanjui
Kathufu
N gnanga

Njerogi, means the orphans, Chief Katonyo is of
this morika.

W ainaina, means those who shiyered during the
circumcision ceremony.

15. means swelled faces.

16. 'Kitao, refers to their eating colocasia roots after

they were circumcised.

17. N gua ya nina, those who wore their mothers’

clothes.

18. 'Mbugwa Because the circumcision wounds

Kuchu did not heal.

19. Mwimri, name of a song they sang at the ceremony

that year.

20. M wiiungu, means small-pox.

21. Kiambutki, called Mwangi, those of the dancing

place.

2'2. Kinra or
N gugi

Because fire was on Kenya at the
time of the circumcision cere-
mony.

23. Mangofio, named after a sweet-smelling tree

used to decorate the youths after circum-
cision.

24. Rohangka, named after a girl who had decorated

her ears before marriage.

25. W anyoiki, because they came one by one to the

place of circumcision,

26. Bofo^ the big stomach of a sheep.

27. Imbum, the poor people (there was a famine at

the time).

28. N got ay a.

29. Kiniti, from a song.

90 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

30.

31-

32.

34-

35-

Mutongu

Kenjeko

Called Mwangi.

Ingigi, season of the locusts (Katonyo’s son,
Thuku, belongs to this generation).

Time of the
small-pox, prob-
ably about 1895.
When circumcised
they went to dig
potatoes in the
fields.

Time of the caterpillar
plague.

Ca\\edMwir- wanderers.

is a name 1 he man-eating
given by the leopards ; there were

youths them- ^ , , • .1 .

selves to this Several about in that

33. K^amande

W any are gi
Kanyuto

36. Thegeni

37. Kariangara

or Matiba

38. Njege

39. Makio

age. They
will probably -f
be renamed
later by the
elders when
the genera-
tion is com-
plete.

year.

The year of the cutting
of the iron wire.

They ate gruel made
of immature maize
(Thuku’s son be-
longs to this year).

The porcupines.

Named after a liquid
magic medicine
which was sold in

Kikuyu during the
year. Those circum-
cised in 1910 belong
to this morika, it will
finish early in 191 1.

Version II

1. Ckiira.

2. Mat hat hi.

3. Endemi.

4. Iregi.

5. Mukuria.

6. Kicharu.

7. Kamao.

8. Kiarie.

9-

10.

11.

12.

13-

14.

15.

16.

17-

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23-

24.

25-

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 91

Kimemia.

Kimani.

Karanja.

Kinuthia.

Njuguna.

Kinyanjui or

Kathufu.

N gnanga.

Njerogi.

Ubu.

Wainaina

Kangnethi

Kitao

These are
often group-
ed as Wai-
naina.

Mungai

Injekia

Mairanga

Marire.

Often group-
•ed as Mun-

gai.

W an gigi.

26. N gua ya nina.

27. W akirutu.

28. Mougwa or
Kitindiko.

29. Mwitongu.

30. Mwiruri.

31. Uchu.

32. Kiambuthi.

33. N gugi or Kirira.

34. Mangorio.

35. Rohan gha.

36. Wanyoike.

37. Kinyiti.

38. Imboru.

39. Ingigl

40. Mutungu.

41. Kenjeko.

42. Kamande.

This brings us up to the last few years, and the
elders said they had no interest in them.

The name given to the morika generally has some
topical allusion to an event which occurred during the
year and about the time of the circumcision ceremonies ;
these allusions are naturally forgotten in course of
time, and the derivations in many cases now appear
senseless.

One morika extends over two years, or four Kikuyu
seasons, called Kimera.

The terms Maina and Mwangi as names for the rika
of the last fifty years seem to be fixed as far as one can
gather, e.g.

The Chief Katonyo’s father was Maina.

Katonyo himself is M wangi.

Katonyo’s children are Maina.

92 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Katonyo’s grandchildren when circumcised

become Mwangi.

His great-grandchildren when circumcised
become Maina.

So apparently every person when circumcised takes
the name of the morika of his grandfather.

The word morika is used indifferently as applying
to the larger group as well as to the group of a particular
year. Any young men, however, who have been
circumcised of recent years, and are still under the
class Mwiringku, would not be called Mwangi until the
group of years was complete.

The time of the completion of a group of years is
decided by the elders, but what determined the
commencement of a new group was not ascertained.

These rika names only apply to males.

A leading Kikuyu elder named Lorigi was
independently questioned on these matters by Mr C.
Dundas, and his view was as follows : The Azamaki
of to-day are practically all Mwangi, and Lorigi
himself, who is among the most senior Azamaki,
belongs to Mwangi. Kamiri, and a few others, are
Maina, like the Mwangi he attends the councils. The
sons of Maina are Mwangi and the sons of Mwangi
are Maina, so that a man always belongs to the same
division as his grandfather : thus Lorigi’s father was
a Maina and his son also belongs to Maina, but Lorigi
himself belongs to Mwangi as his grandson does. It
thus comes about that there are two generations of
Mwangi and Maina living at the same time, and the
younger generation of either is distinguished by the
temporary name of Mwirungu (plural Irungi). When
these become elders they will be called Mwangi or
Maina, as the case may be, without the addition of
I rungu.

The Itwika Ceremony. — As explained in the last
section, the Kikuyu have rika or circumcision ages, and
a long list was given ; these rika fall into groups and
so many form a greater rika, named either M wangi or

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 93

Maina, which follow one another alternately. It
was not clear at the time what determined a group of
rika being lumped together as Maina or Mwangi\ it
now appears, however, that this is connected with a
periodic ceremony called the itwika, which takes place
every fifteen years or so. These correspond to a great
extent to the eunoto of the Masai, and are of tremendous
importance to the Kikuyu ; the elders, in fact, state that
they originated in Kikuyu, and were copied by the
Masai during the period when the Kapotei and Dogilani
Masai were yery friendly with the S. Kikuyu and the
Purko Masai with the N. Kikuyu; in the present
state of our knowledge it is, however, impossible
to say whether there is any foundation for this.^
Probably the best test would be to inquire if the Bari
people who live in or near the country from which the
Masai are believed to be derived, possess this kind of
social organisation. The itwika has been described by
Mr. Routledge as a secret society connected with snake
worship, but as far as can be discovered in S. Kikuyu
there is no foundation for this idea, elders, however,
do not care to discuss its ceremonial unless one is very
well known to them ; they are not supposed to discuss it
with any person of younger grade than themselves, and
the ceremonies may be considered, in fact, as a final
initiation at which only fully qualified elders are allowed
to attend.

The last great itwika ceremony was at the end of the
big famine of 1898-9, and was held about the time that
the Government founded Fort Hall.^ The gatherings
were formerly held on the area between the Thika and
Chania rivers, just above the junction of these two
rivers, and the name Thika is derived from its
connection with the itwika. The last itwika was held

' Vide article on Masai and their traditions, by A. C. Hollis —
London Quarterly Review, July, igoy, p. 104-—“ Now the Masai them-
selves say they learnt this peculiar ceremony (viz. : their method of
circumcision) from the Kikuyu.”

“ Mr Routledg-e mentions a later one which took place near Karuri’s
about igo4, but according- to the S. Kikuyu natives it was only a local
ceremony.

94 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

near KaJaki’s, in the district known as Tingnanga in
Mimi wa Ruchu’s country ; it is said that on account of
the decimation of the people by famine and small-pox
it was decided not to hold it at the old place. The
next itwika will take place when the grandchildren of
people of the same rika as the chief Kinanjui have all
been circumcised, and the decision of the date rests
with the athuri ya ukuu of the Maina generation, this
being the senior generation to-day. This apparently
corresponds to the ngaje of the Masai {vide Hollis’s
“ Masai ”).

An account of the last ceremony was obtained from
one who was present, and the first step is said to be the
building of a huge long hut to accommodate those who
participate in the festival. This is divided into two
main divisions, one for elders of the Maina generation
and one for those of the Mwangi generation, and in
addition, a small room for the athuri ya ukuu, who may
be considered as the officiating priests of the festival.
These athuri ya ukuu are always eight in number, and
at the last itwika their names were, Muthaka, Ngombwa
Tutua, Kimwaki, Kathungu, Kithenji wa Njuki, Rimui
wa Kanjuku, Ngegenya and Mbura wa Katuku, and the
whole programme rested in their hands.

The principal elder of each village is supposed to
attend, and often the next in importance as well; the
gathering, therefore, consists of several thousand souls,
and the proceedings continue for three months or more.
Each elder brings sheep and goats, bullocks, gourds of
honey-beer, and gourds of sugar-cane beer, and relays
of food are brought to the camp during the ceremonies
by women, but no women are allowed within the
confines of the camp. A number of men are also
selected to collect firewood, but do not come inside
the camp. The only persons allowed inside the camp,
except the elders, are eight spearmen, who are told off to
attend on the eight athuri ya ukuu.

It does not appear possible to obtain a detailed
account of the proceedings, but it is said that every

CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL 95

day the eight athuri ya ukuu instruct their juniors in
the customs of the tribe and so forth, the elders also
hold “ ngomas ” or dances.

One man is chosen as an official trumpeter to the
proceedings, and he collects the elders for the various
rites by blowing a horn of the rare bongo antelope
(ndongofo). The horn is called choro, and no one
else is allowed to blow it; this is considered a very
honourable office, and the trumpeter is paid nine rams
and nine female kids for his services.

In former days towards the end of the festival the
elders in charge of an itwika sent two envoys to a
certain place on a stream called Kikira, in Kenya
province, which was said to be the habitat of a mysteri-
ous reptile called the ndamathia. It was described as
being more like a crocodile than like a snake. This
beast was given beer to drink, and when it was drunk
hairs were plucked from its tail. A hairy tail is not
characteristic of reptiles, but all are agreed that
the hairs were obtained. The envoys then returned,
and the hair was plaited together with some strands of
fibre of the wild date palm {^Phoenix reclinata)^ and
then placed on the top of the itwika hut. At the con-
clusion of the festival the people went in procession to
a sacred fig tree (mugumu) in the vicinity, and stuffed
the hair into a crevice in the tree and left it there.
They then took the milk of a cow which had only
borne one calf, the milk of a ewe which had only borne
one lamb, and the milk of a goat which had only borne
one kid, and poured them as a libation at the foot of
the fig tree ; a dance round the fig tree then ensued.
This was the concluding ceremony of the itwika.
Each person attending was finally adorned on the wrist
with a rukwaru or strip of skin from a male goat, and
the itwika house was broken up and they returned home.

At the last itwika held in South Kikuyu the elders
did not send for the hair of the ndamathia, but the
concluding ceremony was carried out with a big black
ox, which was tied by its fore and hind legs and laid

96 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

between two poles ; all the people then came along, one
after the other, and stamped on the ox, which eventually
died. The ox was not eaten but was left lying there,
and they then poured libations of milk and fat at the
foot of the sacred mugumu tree and danced round it,
praying to God {Engai). After this they shaved their
heads, were adorned with the rukwaru from a male
goat, and returned home. Upon reaching their
villages each elder killed a ram and placed a rukwaru
cut from its skin on every person in his village ; these
were worn for one day only, the villagers then cere-
monially bathed and threw them away.

These ceremonies are said to be very pleasing to
God {Engai). No one is ever allowed to cultivate
on the area which has been used for an iiwika
ceremony, and no one must ever cut the mugumu (fig
tree) with an axe or knife.

CHAPTER VI

DEATH AND BURIAL CEREMONIAL

Kikuyu. — Among most peoples, irrespective of their
stage of culture, definite ceremonials have to be
observed upon the occasion of a death, and before the
heirs can succeed to the property. In Kikuyu land
these are somewhat complex, and like many other
observances in that country, their form greatly depends
on the circumcision guild to which the person belongs.
This is the excuse for introducing the subject, as it is
submitted that this factor has apparently escaped the
notice of previous investigators, and to understand fully
the life-history of a Kikuyu native it must be clearly
realised how, from his early years to his death, he is
bound down by the ritual of the guild to which he
belongs. The nearest analogy one can find to illustrate
this is the case of one child who is baptised a Protestant
and another a Roman Catholic ; the main principles of
these religions are the same, and among the Kikuyu the
guild to which a man belongs does not affect his beliefs
as to the ngoma, or spirits, and their influence upon
mortals, but the ritual of his religion varies throughout
his life according to the guild to which he belongs.

The ceremonial observed upon a death is called
ku-hukura — the Swahili synonym, sadaka, has practi-
cally the same meaning.

The death and funeral ceremonies of an elder
circumcised Kikuyu fashion will be first described.
On the day of the death the children or heirs take two
rams and present them to the elders to pay for the

97 G

98 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

digging of the grave ; every elder who has circumcised
children is buried, married women who have borne five
or six children are also buried. The grass is dug with
a mubiru or mukuruwi stick, the sons of the deceased
doing the actual digging, but the elders decide the site
and supervise the work; if a son refuses to assist in
digging his father’s grave it disqualifies him from
receiving a share of the estate. The grave-diggers
receive a big male goat {nthenge), or, if the family
is rich, a bullock, the bullock being slaughtered and the
corpse buried in the hide. The corpse of a male is
buried on its right side with its knees doubled up and
with the right hand under the head. The site of the
grave is near the gate of the village, and the face of the
corpse is placed looking towards its hut. A woman is
always buried lying on her left side.

On the third day after the interment, the elders
assemble at the village to kill a ram to cleanse the
village from the stain of death, and the sons eat the
breast of this animal and next day shave their heads.
The same day the elders bring with them one of their
number who is very poor, and of the same clan as the
deceased, and he has to sleep in the hut of the senior
widow of the deceased and have connection with her ;
he generally lives on in the village and is looked upon
as a stepfather to the children.

There is then a pause of six ,days, and on the
seventh day the elders return, a supply of beer is made
ready for them, and a big male goat is killed and
eaten by all present. This is called nthenge ya noro,
which means the “ goat of the whetstone,” referring to
the whetstone used in sharpening the razors with which
the heads are ceremonially shaved at the conclusion of
the ceremonies. During the first four days after the
death, the married men in the village must have
connection with their wives ; during the succeeding four
days, however, they must observe strict continence.

After the nthenge ya noro has been killed the
property is divided.

DEATH AND BURIAL CEREMONIAL 99

If the deceased belongs to the Masai circumcision
guild the ceremonies are as follows :

When a death occurs the elders decide whether the
person is to be buried or not. Only elders above what
is known as the “ three goat ” grade are buried ; these
are called athuri ya mburi tatu, which means that they
have reached the grade, the entrance fee to which is
three goats; the next grade is athuri ya mburi nne or
the “ four goat ” grade. No elder is a fully qualified
member of council till he reaches that rank. Generally
speaking, it works out that only those elders who have
grown-up children are buried. In the case of a person
not entitled to burial, it is the duty of the elders to
decide the place in the bush where the corpse shall be
deposited.

Assuming that the deceased is entitled to burial, the
local athuri ya ukmi (highest grade of elders) are
summoned, and the corpse is taken out of the hut by
the sons and laid on the hide on which the person slept
during life. A ram {ndorume) is then slaughtered, the
fat being cooked in an earthenware pot and some
poured on the corpse, the children of the deceased also
being smeared with the fat. The ornaments of the
deceased are then removed under the supervision of
the elders and divided up among the immediate family ;
the eldest son has the first choice, then the senior wife,
and each child gets something. An ox of a uniform
colour, preferably all white or all black, is now
slaughtered and the hide is set aside. The elder sons
dig the grave, the site having first been chosen by the
elders ; it is usually situated inside the village near the
goat hut or bachelor quarters, thengira. The corpse is
then interred lying on the sleeping hide used during
life; if a male, it is laid on its right side, knees doubled
up and right hand under the head ; if a female, it is laid
on its left side in the same position. The corpse is
then covered with the raw ox hide with the hair side
upwards and the grave is filled in. Nothing is buried
with the body, but after the grave is filled in, the elders

100 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

pour honey and cooked fat on the graye, and say, “We
give you this to drink.”

A little later in the day a male goat, nikenge, is
slaughtered, the meat being, roasted on a fire near the
gate of the village, and a little of the fat is placed on
every fire in the village ; the smell of this is believed to
be very pleasing to the ngoma, or spirits, and any thahu
or curse that may be impending is drawn away. This
act is also said to lustrate the sons who have performed
the burial.

A month, or perhaps more, is allowed to elapse, and
the division of the estate takes place. The children
or heirs then take four rams, and the women of the
village shed all their ornaments and sleep together
in the same hut, which is also shared by the four sheep.
In the morning the elders arrive and the sheep are
killed, the fat is cooked and then put away to cool, while
the meat is eaten by the assembled people, providing
they belong to the Masai guild. The head must be
cooked and eaten away from the village; the skin is
taken by someone else, and the viscera by yet another
person.

On the following day the heads of all the inhabitants
of the village are shaved and they are anointed with the
fat of the sheep. During the ceremony the people
present wear their skin garments inside out, and these
are anointed with the cooked latex of the mugumu fig
tree ; after their bodies have been anointed with the fat
they can once more turn their skin robes right side
outwards, and the women resume their ornaments.

The property of the deceased is then divided up by
the elders ; the principle followed is that each son takes
the property which had its dwelling-place in his
mother’s hut, the goats and sheep, for instance, and
which lodge, so many in the hut of each wife. With
regard to which cattle, each son gets those which have
been milked by his mother. Strict continency must be
observed by all in the village until these proceedings
are finished, and at their close the inhabitants and all

DEATH AND BURIAL CEREMONIAL 101

the property of the deceased are ceremonially purified
by a medicine man.

Among the Kikuyu a woman’s skin cloak is laid
outside on the ground when she dies and no one will
touch it ; a Dorobo husband, however, wears his wife’s
cloak after her death ; hence one may at times see a
man wearing a woman’s cloak. The fear of corpses is
intense with the Kikuyu, but it appears to be much less
so with the Dorobo. They will, for instance, live in
the house of the deceased, and do not seem to mind
handling the corpse, a man’s sons, in fact, anointing
his corpse after death.

Burial {Ukamba of Kitui). — Among these people
the head of a village is buried if his wife, wives, or any
sons are alive. If they are all dead the body is
thrown out.

A man of importance and of high social grade is
nearly always buried and is interred at the side of his
cattle kraal.

The head wife of an elder is buried.

Beer and blood are periodically poured out by the
side of a grave of a deceased medicine man, but not by
that of other elders. It is essential that this libation
should be made just before sunrise, and as this is in
accordance with the practice in several other places,
the custom is probably a very old one.

In the case of deceased elders, a libation of beer
and blood is poured out inside the hut of the deceased
when liquor is brewed or when a goat is killed.

If a childless wife, who is the first wife, dies, she is
buried inside the village. In the case of a second or
third wife, the body is thrown out, but curiously enough
it must not be taken through the gate ; a special open-
ing is made in the village fence for the purpose, the
opening being afterwards closed up again. Presumably
this is to prevent her spirit from finding its way back
into the village.

There is a curious custom among the Kamba of
Ulu, in the event of a member of the family being away

102 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

when a death occurs in a village. An elder measures
the corpse, cuts a stick of the same length and places
it alongside the house of the deceased ; this procedure
is believed to protect the absent one from evil. Upon
his return, a goat is killed and he is smeared with the
contents of the stomach, muyo in Ki-Kamba, the tatha
of Kikuyu, and some is deposited at the door of the
hut, and he must tread in it before entering the hut;
this ceremonially purifies him. The stick is then taken
up by a muiumia ya makwa, one of the elders who
understands the ritual connected with the removal of
thabu or makwa, and is thrown out into the bush where
the corpse of the deceased was deposited.

In Kitui if a man is on a journey and a death occurs
in the village during his absence, his wives may not cut
their hair till he returns and has performed the cere-
monies necessary upon the occasion of a death.

CHAPTER VII

THE CURSE AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS

(a) Thahu and its Connection with Circumcision

Rites, etc.

Thahu, sometimes called nzahu, is the word used for
a condition into which a person is believed to fall if
he or she accidentally becomes the victim of certain
circumstances or intentionally performs certain acts
which carry with them a kind of ill luck or curse. A
person who is thahu becomes emaciated and ill or
breaks out into eruptions or boils, and if the thahu is
not removed, will probably die. In many cases this
undoubtedly happens by auto-suggestion, as it never
occurs to the Kikuyu mind to be sceptical on a matter
of this kind.

It is said that the thahu condition is caused by the
ngoma, or spirits of departed ancestors, but the process
does not seem to have been analysed any further.

We are now in a position to realise the attitude of
the Kikuyu mind towards thahu, and it is considered
that the term curse, in its mediaeval sense, expresses
it. Everyone will remember in the Ingoldsby
Legends the pitiable condition of the Jackdaw of
Rheims after he had been cursed by the Cardinal for
stealing his ring ; now this would appeal to a Kikuyu,
and he would at once say the jackdaw was thahu. In
one of the cases of thahu, quoted hereafter, it is possible
for a person to lay a curse maliciously on a whole village
by breaking a cooking pot, and in another instance, a
father can lay a curse on his son for disobedience. We
thus have parallel instances from both higher and lower
civilisation ; in the first, the Cardinal curses the jackdaw
with the help of the supernatural powers with which he

103

104 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

is invested by virtue of his sacred position, and in the
lower culture it is apparently held that any person can
inflict a curse by invoking the supernatural powers of
the ngoma, or spirits, of the dead ancestors/

The position has, indeed, changed but little. It
would appear probable that as the priests gained
power, they arrogated to themselves the monopoly of
laying a curse upon their flock ; but the freedom with
which people use the conventional formula of curses to
this day is evidence, however, that the power to inflict a
curse was formerly at the disposal of all. It is never-
theless important to realise that when curses were
believed to be effective, and in the case of malicious
ones, punishable by native law, people were more care-
ful about the custom than Europeans are to-day, when
all belief in the power of a curse has died away.

Some people use the term ceremonial uncleanness
to express the meaning of ihahu, but, as far as my
inquiries go, the phrase inadequately explains the
Kikuyu ideas on this question. Acts which cause a
person to become thahu are also often found to be
enumerated under the heading of “ prohibitions ” and
“ tabus r

The similarity between thahu and tabu is somewhat
striking and worth considering. Tabu appears usually
to be applied to some act or object by a man who often
acts in the dual capacity of ruler and magician. There
is, as far as can be discovered, no record of a Kikuyu
thahu having been imposed by any known personage,
but these beliefs must have originated somewhere, and
it may be that they were originally imposed one by one
by great medicine men in former times, and have thus
become incorporated in what may be termed the tribal
religion.

The removal of the curse is effected by a process
of lustration which, in the more serious cases, has to
be done by the mundu mugo, or medicine man, and in

i Of course the analogy is not complete, for it does not apply to one who
accidentally becomes the victim of certain circumstances.

105

THE CURSE

others by the members of the native council, or kiama ;
the latter is an interesting case of the overlapping of
judicial functions and those of a sacerdotal character.

The lustration ceremony is almost always accom-
panied by the slaughter of a sheep and anointment with
the contents of the stomach, the white diatomaceous
earth called ira being used in some cases. The
purification is called tahika.

In a few cases smoke is used as a purifying agent
and seems to be considered effective in some more
trivial ones.

The reality of this aspect of Kikuyu life and thought
may easily be under-estimated, but it is important that
all who wish to gain a deep insight into native affairs
should understand it and give the phenomenon its true
value. To give the question a practical application, it
may safely be said that no Kikuyu native who becomes
thahu during the course of his employment by a white
master, will rest until he has been freed of his curse or
ill luck, and he will probably desert with wages due to
him in order to get rid of it ; he cannot afford to wait,
the risk is too great.

There is another curious side to the question ; a
Kikuyu, when he is circumcised, undergoes this rite
either according to the old Kikuyu custom or according
to Masai custom ; the physical operation and result
are the same, but the ceremonial varies, and for some
unfathomed reason, a man who is circumcised Masai
fashion can do certain things or encounter certain cir-
cumstances with impunity which would, if he had been
circumcised Kikuyu fashon, render him thahu. This
is a very curious fact, and the Kikuyu themselves do
not seem to be able to give any reason for it. The
matter should, however, be made the subject of further
research, as my information is derived from the southern
branch of the tribe, and many customs which are
dropping into disuse in that area, and thus losing their
inner meaning, are found to be very much better
known in Kenya Province or Mwaitumi, as they call it.

106 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

List of Thahu. — I will now proceed to give a
list of thahu which I have collected with the assistance
of the Kikuyu chief Kinanjui and his kiama, or council,
of athuri, or elders ; the question of the two classes of
circumcision will be discussed later.

(1) If a small child dies and the mother carries the
body away into the bush, the woman is thahu, and if
the husband cohabits with her before she is purified,
he becomes thahu and the woman is cleansed. The
man carries the thahu away with him, and, what is
worse, may transmit it to his other wives. If the man
becomes thahu in this way it is much more serious for
him than the woman, and a mundu mugo, or medicine
man, has to be called in : the woman has to be purified
by three elders, athuri ya kiama, and an elder woman,
mwirtu. For instance, if a man has two wives and the
younger had become thahu, the senior wife would
shave the head of the woman who was to be purified ;
a sheep is killed, and she is smeared with tatha, or the
contents of the stomach.

This thahu only falls on those who have been
circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion : if the man
has been circumcised according to Masai custom he
does not become thahu.

(2) If a woman who has assisted at a birth cohabits
with a man before the end of the umbilical cord of the
newly born child has shrivelled up and come away, and
before she has bathed herself ceremonially, the infant,
although not her own, will become thahu. To remove
the curse from the child the principal elder of the
village kills a sheep and smears the woman with
tatha, the contents of the animal’s stomach, and thus
cleanses her.

This applies to those circumcised either according
to Kikuyu or Masai fashion.

(3) If a man touches or carries a corpse, he becomes
thahu until he is cleansed. The lustration is performed
by members of the local council of elders, athuri ya
kiama, and the final purification by a mundu mugo, or

THE CURSE 107

medicine man. If he cohabits with a woman before he
is cleansed she also becomes thahu.

(4) Stepping over a corpse inflicts a thahu of a very
serious nature, and the person contracts a sickness
called mangu (possibly leprosy). He is said to break
out into an eruption, and the fingers come off and
the nose rots away. To remove this thahu ^ both the
elders, athuri ya kiama, and the mundu mugo are
called in ; the latter procures the bone of an elephant,
and this is placed on the ground, the athuri forming a
circle round it, and the patient then steps over the bone ;
the mundu mugo afterwards purifies the man in the
usual way.^

This thahu applies to both sections of the tribe,
viz., those circumcised Kikuyu fashion and those
circumcised Masai fashion.

(5) During a marriage ceremony five goats have to
be presented to the athuri ya kiama and are killed for
a feast. After they are slaughtered the eyes of the
carcases have to be removed, and if, during this process,
an eye becomes cut or broken, the bride becomes thahu,
and unless something is done will not bear children ;
the father of the girl has to present a sheep to the
athuri, and the girl is purified by them — this not being
a matter which necessitates a medicine man. This
applies to both sections of the tribe.

(6) On the occasion of a birth, the young men of
the village kill a sheep for a feast called mamhura-, if
the man who slaughters it cuts his finger and his blood
drips on to the meat, he is thahu until he is purified by
the athuri ya kiama.

This again applies to both sections of the tribe.

(7) If a man, the head of the village, attends the
circumcision of a child at the hut of one of his wives,
he is thahu until the children who were circumcised in
the hut are cured; a mundu mugo then comes and

* The act of stepping- over a corpse is probably considered a
serious insult to the ngoma.

108 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

purifies him and the woman in whose hut the children
were circumcised.

This applies only to the men circumcised Kikuyu
fashion, for in that section it is the custom for the village
head to sleep in the hut where the circumcision has
taken place, and he becomes thahu, whereas it is the
custom for a village head who was circumcised Masai
fashion to sleep in another hut until the ceremonies are
quite over, thus escaping the thahu.

(8) If one man kills another, and comes to sleep
at a village and eats with the family in a certain hut,
the people with whom he has eaten become thahu,
and the skin on which he has slept is thahu and may
infect anyone sleeping on it. This is a case for a
mundu mu go, who is called in to purify the hut and
its occupants.

If, however, the owner of the hut and his family
have been circumcised Masai fashion they do not
become thahu.

(9) If an important elder dies he is buried by his
sons and they are thahu until purified by the athuri
ya kiama. They are smeared with oil and their heads
are shaved during the ceremony ; this is not considered
a very serious thahu. If they have been circumcised
Masai fashion they can be purified forthwith, but if they
belong to the other section it is necessary for them to
isolate themselves until the new moon appears.

(10) When a child is born the father kills a sheep,
of which a large part is given to the woman who has
assisted at the confinement, and if, before he has pegged
out the skin and divided the meat, he is summoned
away from the village on urgent business (my informant
gave an example, and said : “ Suppose he was arrested
and taken away as a prisoner ”), the infant is thahu and
the principal elder of the village has to kill a sheep,
take a strip of skin from the forefoot of this animal,
and fasten it as a bracelet on the wrist of the infant
to remove the ill luck.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

THE CURSE 109

(11) If children are being circumcised at a village,
and the owner of the hut where the ceremony has taken
place goes away to sleep at another village before he is
cleansed, and, say, on the way, meets a crowd of people,
the children who were circumcised will all be thahu.
This is a case for a mundu niugo.

This only applies to those circumcised Masai fashion
as, by Kikuyu fashion, the man does not sleep at
another village.

(12) If two men who were circumcised at the same
ceremony fight and blood is spilt, they are both thahu
until a mundu mugo comes and removes it. He kills
the usual sheep and the athuri or elders put a strip of
the skin of the sheep on the wrist of each of the two
men. Persons who are circumcised at the same feast
are called wakini. This holds good for both sections
of the tribe.

(13) If one man circumcises his children according
to Masai fashion and another according to Kikuyu
fashion, and the former should eat meat killed by the
latter, the former will be thahu and vice versa.

(14) If a person belonging to the Mweithaga clan
sleeps in the hut of a person belonging to another
rika or clan, the people of that hut become thahu ; this
is a case for both medicine men and elders, and applies
to both sections of the tribe.

(15) If a man throws some earth at his wife, both
become thahu ; this is a case for a medicine man, and
both have to be purified. This only applies to those
circumcised Kikuyu fashion.

(16) If food is eaten from a cracked pot the persons
eating it become thahu and a mundu mugo has to be
called in. This affects both sections of the tribe.

(17) The wives of smiths are usually decorated with
armlets made of twisted strips of iron called mithiori.
If a man enters the hut of a smith, and cohabits with a
woman so decorated, he becomes thahu. A sheep has
to be killed and a supply of honey beer provided ; a strip
of skin from the sheep is placed on the wrist of the

110 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

man, the woman, and any children she may have ; this
bracelet is placed on the left wrist of females, and the
right wrist of a male. The purification ceremony is
performed by another smith.

This thahu affects both sections of the tribe.

(18) Persons eating food in a smithy become
thahu\ the smith himself can purify one from this
curse.

It affects both sections.

(19) If a bead worn on a warrior’s neck or waist
falls into food, the persons who partake of the food
become thahu ; if such a bead falls into the grain store
and becomes inadvertently cooked with the food the
result is the same. This only affects persons circum-
cised Kikuyu fashion.

(20) If a Kikuyu has had his crops protected
by magical processes performed by a medicine man
(to protect in this way is called ku-roga), and someone
takes food from a garden so protected, he becomes
thahu, and this form of thahu can only be removed by
the medicine man who has roga-t-A the plantation.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(21) If a man has connection with a woman from
behind, they are both thahu. This is a very serious
thahu and both the atkuri ya kiama and a mundu mugo
are necessary to remove it, neither the man nor the
woman being allowed to eat any of the sacrificial sheep.

This applies to both sections.

(22) If a man beats his wife and draws blood, the
woman is thahu, and the man cannot sleep in her hut
until she is freed from it; the elders are called in and
kill a sheep. The two persons concerned are not
allowed to eat any of the meat, and the skin is reserved
as a fee for a mundu mugo who is called in to perform
the formal lustration.

This affects both sections of the tribe.

(23) If a woman is carrying a baby on her back,
and it slips out of the leather garment and falls to the
ground, it is thahu ; the child must not be lifted from

THE CURSE 111

the place where it fell until a sheep has been killed on
that spot, and this is a case for both the elders of
kiama and a medicine man. Both sections of the tribe
are affected by this.

(24) If an elder or a woman when coming out of
the hut slips and falls down on the ground, he or she is
thahu, and lies there until a few elders of kiama come
and slaughter a sheep near by, and some blood and
tatha (contents of the stomach of the sheep) are rubbed
on the spot where the person fell. The elders then
say, “ So-and-so is dead, let us bury him,” and they
plant a sprig of the bushes called mukuria and
muthakwa on the site of the mishap. This applies to
both sections.

(25) If a man marries a woman and she steals
anything from a member of her father’s clan, she is
thahu, and milk will flow from her breasts without any
natural cause, and any child she bears before the thahu
is removed will be thahti. This is a matter for the
athuri^ or elders of kiama ; a sheep is placed on the
woman’s shoulders, and its throat is pinched until it
micturates on the woman’s body, the sheep then being
killed, and the contents of the gall bladder, mixed with
urine from its bladder, poured over the leather garment
of the woman, and her navel touched with a little of the
mixture. The milk that was unnaturally flowing from
her breasts will then dry up, and by this sign they will
know that the thahu is removed.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(26) If a man’s son commits adultery with one of
his father’s wives, and the father is still alive, the father
becomes thahu and not the culprit, the reason given
being that the father takes the thahu because he begot
the son. The erring woman does not return to her
husband, she is not thahu, and can still bring food to
her husband, but he does not cohabit with her, and her
hut is broken down. The son who has transgressed in
this way has to make peace with his father by a formal
present of a big male goat, nthengi. This thahu can

112 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

be removed by the athuri ya kiama ; it is a very serious
matter, and if the thahu is not quickly removed from
the father, he will die.

It applies equally to both sections of the tribe.

(27) If a person touches menstrual blood, he or she
is thahti ; or if a man cohabits with a woman in this
condition he is thahii. The person who is contamin-
ated will first take some cow dung and then red ochreous
earth {thirigd) and plaster it on the part of the body
touched by the blood ; ochre is said to be used because
it is the same colour as the blood ; the woman from
whom the contamination came is also thahu. The
niundzi nmgo has to be called in to purify the persons.

This applies to both sections.

(28) If one woman is circumcised Masai fashion
and another Kikuyu fashion, and the child of the latter
is suckled by the other woman, the child becomes
thahu'. this is a case for a mzmdu mugo.

This applies to those circumcised Kikujm fashion.

(29) If a hyasna comes into a hut at night, kills a
goat and the owner kills the hyaena in the hut, the hut
will be abandoned, and the whole village has to be
purified by the kiama.

This applies to both sections of the tribe.

(30) If a hyaena defaecates inside a village, the
village and its inhabitants axe thahu, and this is a case
for the kiama to arrange ; the usual sheep is killed and
must be eaten by the people of the village. If a
person belonging to another village eats any of the
meat, a hyaena will come and defile the village where
he lives.

This applies to both sections.

(31) If a woman is carrying a gourd on her back
and it falls and breaks, she is thahu. This is a matter
for the elders of kiama to arrange.

(32) If a goat should come up to where people are
sitting, and try to suckle a woman’s breast, the woman
is thahu, and the goat has to be taken away and
slaughtered at the village of the woman’s father.

KIKUYU CIRCUMCISION FEAST.
MAI.E CANDIDATES.

FEMALE CANDIDATES.

THE CURSE 113

the elders of kiama being called in to purify the
woman.

This applies to both sections.

(33) If a woman is milking a cow and the calf
climbs up on her shoulders while she is so occupied,
the calf is not allowed to suckle the cow again and is
forthwith slaughtered ; this is a case for the elders.
The people of the village must not eat any of the meat,
half being taken by the woman to her father and the
other half eaten by the elders.

This applies to both sections.

(34) When a woman has recently been confined and
the discharges are still unfinished, it has sometimes
happened that a cow has come along and licked the
stool upon which she has been sitting. In such a case
she must immediately tell her husband ; if not, he will
become thahu and die, and all the other people in the
village will become thahu in a lesser degree and get
ill. The cow has to be killed without delay by the
elders and eaten by them ; no person of the village
must eat of the meat unless he has been circumcised
Masai fashion. Three elders in Kikuyu are said to
have died from this thahu within recent years.

It only applies to those who have been circumcised
Kikuyu fashion.

(35) If a cow is out grazing and its tail becomes
twisted round a tree, it is thahu, and must be
slaughtered there and then ; it is killed by the owner,
and the elders receive the saddle and the young
warriors the neck.

This only applies to cattle owned by persons
circumcised ICikuyu fashion.

(36) There is a white bird called nyangi (the bird
nyangi is in Swahili called furakombe) ; if one is seen
to settle on a cow, and the cow is not killed, the owner
of the cow will be thahu and die. The cow must be
killed there and then and the meat divided up, the
elders receiving the saddle, and the neighbouring
warriors the neck, whilst no person belonging to the

H

114 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

village must eat of the meat. The herd of cattle also
need to be purified, and the owner of the village,
assisted by the elders, must take a female sheep which
has not borne a lamb, and a male goat; these are
slaughtered, and the intestines and bones of the animals
(termed ichtm) are placed on a fire, which is lit to the
windward of the cattle kraal, and the smoke passing
through the kraal and among the cattle will purify the
herd. Should the bird be killed among the cattle, the
whole herd would die.

This applies to both sections.

(37) If a cow’s horn comes off in a person’s hand
the animal is thahu and is slaughtered, and the meat is
eaten by all. This applies to both sections.

(38) If a bull or bullock leaves the herd when out
grazing and comes home alone, and stands outside the
village digging at the refuse heap {kiaraini) with its
horns, it is known to be thahu, and is forthwith killed
by the owner. This applies to both sections.

(39) If a goat is giving birth to a kid, and the head
appears first and the body is not born quickly, it is said
to be thahu, and is slaughtered by the owner. No
woman must touch the meat of such an animal or
she would become thahu \ men only can eat it. More-
over, if a goat which is in kid should die, no woman
must touch it or eat the meat, the idea probably being
that her fertility might become contaminated. This
applies to both sections.

(40) If a woman bears twins the first time she has
children, the twins are thahu, and an old woman of the
village, generally the midwife, stuffs grass in their
mouths until they are suffocated and throws them out
into the bush. If, however, a woman first bears a
single child and then has twins they are not thrown out.

If a cow or a goat bears twins the first time, the
same practice is observed, and a necklace of cowries is
placed round the neck of the mother. This practice
is observed by both sections. Some kill both mother
and young, and a medicine man is called, who leads a

THE CURSE 115

sheep round the village and then sacrifices it to remove
the curse.

(41) If the side pole of a bedstead breaks, the
person lying on it is thahu, and a sheep must be sacri-
ficed ; this is a matter for the kiama to arrange, and a
bracelet called rukwaru, cut from the skin of the sheep,
must be placed on the wrist of the person, or he or she
is liable to die. This applies to both sections.

(42) A malicious person will sometimes, out of spite
or in a fit of rage, take up a cooking pot, dash it down
to the ground and break it, saying the words urokwo
uwe, “ Die like this.” This is a very serious matter
and renders all the people of the village ihaku ; it is
necessary for the people of the village to pay as much
as seven sheep to remove the tkahu. This is naturally
considered a crime according to native law, and the
offender is punished by the elders of kiama, who inflict
a fine of seven goats. This applies to both sections.

(43) If a son seriously disobeys his father, he can
be rendered ihaku by his father rubbing ashes on his
buttocks, and cursing him, saying, “ May you be eaten
by my anus.” The son will have to take a sheep and
then a male goat and a jar of honey and crave his
father’s forgiveness. The father slaughters the animal,
and rubs his navel and his buttocks with the meat, and
the curse is removed. This applies to both sections.

(44) If the head of a village has a quarrel with
another man, wounds him with a sime or sword, and
blood is spilt in the village, the village becomes thahu,
unless the offender takes his adversary and leads him
round the outskirts of the village, letting the blood drip
on the ground as they go ; the elders will then have to
be called in, a sheep is killed, and they purify the
village. This applies to both sections.

(45) If an idiot or maliciously-minded person picks
up a skull, walks round a village with it and leaves it on
the “ ihomi,'^ or “ place of conference,” the village is
ihaku, and is in very serious danger. The elders are
first called in, and they take a sheep and drag it round

116 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the confines of the village by the same route as that
taken by the person with the skull ; the animal is killed
and pieces of the intestines are dragged round the
village. The meat of the sheep is only eaten by very
old men. Six other sheep then have to be killed by
the elders, and finally the medicine man has to purify
each person in the village.

(46) If a wild animal is killed among a flock or herd
of animals out grazing the beasts are thahu\ they can
be purified by the owner and the kiama ; a sheep is
killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire
lit to windward of the infected flock or herd, and the
smoke cleanses them and removes the curse. Vide
Tylor’s “ Primitive Culture,” Vol. ii, pp. 430-434,
“Fire serves for purification in cases too trifling to
require sacrifice.” This applies to both sections.

(47) If domestic animals are attacked and stung by
bees they are thahu\ a sheep is killed and the bones
and intestines are placed on a fire lit to windward of
the herd and the smoke removes the curse. This
applies to both sections.

(48) If a son curses his father seriously he becomes
thahu ; he has to bring a sheep, which is eaten by his
father and mother, the fat is melted and all three are
smeared with it ; the son then has to peg out the skin of
the sheep in front of his mother’s hut. This applies to
both sections.

(49) If a person strikes anyone who is herding
cattle, etc., and draws blood, the flock or herd is thahu ;
the offender must pay a sheep, which is killed by the
elders, and a strip of skin {rukwaru) is placed on the
wrist of the offender ; no young person is allowed near
during the ceremony. This applies to both sections.

(50) If the droppings of a kite or crow fall on a
person he is thahu ; he must shave his head and bathe
at a river, and the elders kill a sheep and fasten a strip
of the skin on his wrist. The skin of the sheep must
not be pegged out to dry in the village where the
person lives. This applies to both sections.

THE CURSE 117

(51) If a woman sleeps with her leather garment
inside out it is unlucky, but she is not thahu, the pro-
cedure being for her to spit on the garment and turn it
the right way. This applies to both sections, but is
considered much more unlucky for a woman circum-
cised Masai fashion.

(52) When a man dies, the eldest son gives one
bull or a big male goat (according to his means) to the
athuri ya kiama for a feast, and the elders then teach
him his duties {kirira). The next step is to give the
elders a male sheep {{ku-hukuria), which must not be
eaten by the children, the object of this being to cleanse
the village of the deceased. Now if a son has not made
these gifts nor gone through the necessary ceremonies
marking his succession, he cannot participate in the
sacrificial feast which has to take place at the sacred
fig tree after the death of an elder (called ku-hoya
Engai). The principal wife of the deceased can
attend the sacrifice, but not the other wives and their
children. And should they do so they will become
thahu and it is a case for a medicine man to arrange.
The women and children from the neighbouring
villages can go.

If a sacrifice is made at a sacred fig tree to invoke
rain only, athuri ya kiama can attend and eat it. No
woman must go near. These rules apply to both
sections.

(53) If children are being circumcised at a village
according to Kikuyu fashion and the head of the
village goes on a journey before eight days have elapsed
or, according to Masai fashion, before four days have
passed, he and those of his children who have been
operated on become thahu ; this is a case for the
medicine man to arrange.

(54) If a child has been circumcised and, on the
first occasion after the ceremony on which he leaves
his village, the goats and sheep come back from grazing
and enter the village before he returns, he is thahu.
He cannot return to his village until it is removed and

118 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

must sleep at a neighbouring village where some of
the other boys, who went through the ceremony with
him, reside. To remove the ihahu, his father has to
kill a sheep and place a strip of skin {rukwaru) from the
animal on his wrist.

(55) If a father picks up one of his children and
places it on his back or shoulders, the father becomes
thahu and the child will die, the result being the same
whatever the sex of the child; if he carries the child
in front of him there is no evil result. This is a case
for a medicine man to arrange, and it applies to both
sections of the tribe.

(56) If a person should be bitten by a hyaena or a
dog he or she is thahu and a medicine man has to be
called in; he kills a sheep and places a bracelet, or
rukwaru, of the skin on the wrist of the patient. This
applies to both sections.

(57) If a dog dies in a village it is a very serious
matter ; the head of the village and his people are
thahu, and the elders are called in. The village head
provides a sheep which is slaughtered, and the stomach
contents [tatha) are sprinkled round the village, which
is then ceremonially swept by the elders ; the medicine
man is then called in to purify all the people of what
is called the mugiro of the dog. {Note. — The mugiro
means the pollution produced by the blood of the dog
having fallen on the ground of the village or the death
of the dog in the village.) This only applies to the
Kikuyu section of the tribe.

(58) The children and grandchildren of brothers
and sisters cannot intermarry. Breach of this rule is
considered to be a very grave sin, and all children born
of such marriages surely die ; the thahu on them cannot
be purged by any ceremonial. The parents are not
affected. It sometimes happens, however, that a young
man unwittingly marries a cousin; for instance, if a
part of the family moves away to another locality a man
might become acquainted with a girl and marry her
before he discovered the relationship. In such a case

THE CURSE 119

the thahu is removable; the elders take a sheep and
place it on the woman’s shoulders ; it is then killed, the
intestines are taken out, and the elders solemnly sever
them with a sharp splinter of wood from the mukeo
bush, and announce that they are cutting the clan
“ kutiwyarurira^' which means that they are severing
the bond of blood relationship existing between the
pair. A medicine man then comes and purifies the
couple. This only applies to the Kikuyu section of
the tribe.

(59) If a parent goes on a journey and, during his
absence, one of his or her sons cohabits with one of
his father’s wives, the parents are thahu, and upon his
return will be seized with illness. This is a case for the
medicine man, who has to be called in to perform a
lustration ceremony to purify them ; the offending son
is not affected. Sprigs of the mahoroa, muchatha, and
mitei bushes are bound up together and dipped in
water, and the water is sprinkled over the couple, a
little being also sprinkled at the gate of the village.
This only applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion.
It is curious to note that practically the same custom is
observed by the A-Kamba.

(60) If a Kikuyu native kills a man belonging to
another tribe he is not thahu ; if he kills a man of his
own tribe, but of a different rika, or clan, to his own,
he is not thahu ; if, however, he kills a man belonging
to his own rika, or clan, he is thahu, and it Ts a very
serious matter. It can be arranged by the elders in the
following manner;

Two trunks of the plantain or banana tree (called
miramha in Kikuyu) are placed on the ground parallel
to each other, and an elder sits on each ; one of them
is then lifted up by another elder, and the offender has
to seat himself on the tree trunk exactly in the same
place ; the other elder is then removed and the elder
brother of the deceased or brother next in age to him is
put in his place.

The mothers of the offender and deceased then bring

120 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

to the place food made of every kind of field produce
grown by the tribe, as well as meat; the usual sheep
is killed by the elders and a little of the tatha, or
stomach contents, is sprinkled over the food which was
provided by the mothers of the two parties.

The two elders who first sat on the plantain trunks
then solemnly eat a little of this food, and also
administer some to the offender and the brother of the
deceased. Two gourds containing gruel made of meal
are then taken, and the elders put a little of the tatha in
each, and one gourd is sent to the village of the offender
and one to that of the deceased. The remaining food
is divided among the assembly.

The following day the elders proceed to the local
sacred fig tree {mugumzi), and kill a sheep. They
deposit some of the fat, the chest bone, the intestines
and the more important bones at the foot of the tree,
and eat the rest of the carcase. They say that the
ngoma, or spirit of the deceased, will visit the tree that
night in the shape of a wild cat and eat the meat, and
that this offering will prevent the ngoma of the
deceased from coming back to his village and troubling
the occupants.

A medicine man then has to come and purify the
murderer and the brother of the deceased.

This ceremony is not considered legal, and cannot
be performed till the blood money has been paid.

The above case is a good example of the two stages
of the removal of a more serious thahu ; in the first
place, the spirits of the deceased ancestors, including
that of the murdered man, have to be appeased, and the
personal defilement due to the spilling of blood, which
falls on both the murderer and the family of the
murdered man, has then to be removed by a separate
ceremony performed by the medicine man. It is
interesting to note that only the medicine man can
remove this latter.

The above thahu applies to both sections of the
tribe. In giving these details, my informants explained

THE CURSE 121

that according to Kikuyu native law, the blood money
for a man was a hundred sheep and goats, and nine
sheep and goats in addition for the elders. If, however,
a man could not raise a hundred goats it was the
custom for him to give three daughters in payment,
plus the nine goats for the elders.

The Kikuyu were formerly only allowed to eat the
following wild animals and birds before being circum-
cised: partridges {ngware), pigeon {ndutwa), and
hyrax {mi-kami). Many will not eat wild game
throughout their lives, and people follow the custom
they have been brought up to observe; those that eat
it probably had Asi or Dorobo ancestors. A person
who eats wild game does not become ihahu. This
same view is held by both sections. The repugnance
to eating this kind of food probably had its origin in
totemism, but all traces of this belief seem to be lost
in S. Kikuyu.

(61) If a tree falls on a hut it is considered extremely
unlucky ; the hut, however, will not be abandoned, but
it is necessary for the head of the village to kill a ram
which is led round the village before being killed. If
this were not done, the owner of the village, or at any
rate the woman who lived in the hut, would become
the victim of a thahu or curse. The owner of the
village, however, may not enter the hut until the
sacrifice has been made to appease the ngoma or
ancestral spirits who inflict the thahu. This applies to
both sections of the tribe, viz., those circumcised
Kikuyu fashion and those Masai fashion.

(62) If a jackal {mbwei) comes into a village and
calls at night when the inhabitants are asleep, the
people say that a spirif is calling for meat, and it is
considered very unlucky. Next morning the owner of
the village will take a male goat {nthenge), lead it round
the village, and kill it at about the spot where the jackal
called out. Pieces are cut from the loin, lungs, heart,
and each of the limbs, and piled up into two little heaps
as offerings to the ngoma, who are believed to have

122 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

called out through the medium of the jackal. The
sex of the ngoma is not known, and therefore to be on
the safe side two little heaps are laid out, one for any
male spirits and one for any female spirits. No bone
must be broken in any meat offered to the spirits.

Next morning the elders go to the place where the
two offerings of meat were deposited and pour out a
libation of beer on each. They then address the
ngoma as follows : “ O ye spirits, take this meat and
beer and give us goats and cattle and children, and
do not bring thahu to this village.” The people of
both circumcision guilds follow this procedure.

(63) If a certain snake, called nyamuyathi by the
Kikuyu, enters a hut, it is necessary to pour some milk
or fat on the floor for the reptile to drink ; it may drink
and leave, or it may not. If it does, well and good ; if
not, the owner of the village has to kill a sheep, cook
some of its fat, and pour it out in the hut, saying at the
same time : “ We offer you some fat to drink, we beg of
you to leave us.” It is believed that a ngoma, or
spirit, has come in the guise of a snake, and on no
account must such a snake be killed. After the
sacrifice of the sheep has been made the snake will
always go, but it disappears mysteriously and no one
sees it leave. If the snake remained in the hut, the wife
who owned the hut, and her children, would be thahu.

(64) If a stranger comes to a village and dies in a
hut there, the hut is completely abandoned if the owner
belongs to the Kikuyu guild ; a large hole is made in
the side of the hut by taking out several of the wall
slabs or planks [mihirigo)', the corpse is left inside
and the hyaenas come and carry it off. The hut is then
left to fall into ruin, and no articles, such as cooking
pots, beer, jars, etc., are removed from it. The men
who break the hole in the wall are even considered
unclean, as much as if they had handled the corpse, and
after performing the duty they go straight off into the
bush and stay there until they have bathed and been
anointed with iatha (the stomach contents of a sheep) ;

123

THE CURSE

finally a very old woman comes and shaves their heads ;
they are then ceremonially clean and can return to their
families. A medicine man [mundu mugd) has, how-
ever, to come and purify the whole village in the usual
way.

If the owner of the village belongs to the Masai
guild the consequences are not so serious. The family
leave the hut temporarily until the corpse has been
carried off by the hyaenas ; they then kill a goat or sheep
near the door of the hut, take a little of the fat from
the stomach of the animal, and place a small portion
on the cooking fire of each hut. This removes the
thahu due to the death of the stranger and all is well.

(65) If a new hut is built in the village and the wife
enters it and finds herself menstruating on the day she
lights the first fire in it, the hut has to be broken down
and demolished the very next day. The woman must
on no account sleep a second night in it; a thahu is
on both the woman and the hut. A medicine man has
to be called in to purify ceremonially the woman and
her children, a new hut is built and the medicine man
ceremonially sweeps it out with a broom made of the
twigs of the mukenya, mahoroa, and michatha bushes ;
he then collects the sweepings and throws them outside
the village. This custom applies to both sections of
the tribe.

This custom also has another phase which is as
follows: If on the day a hut is built, the wife, who is
the owner of the hut, is away from the village and finds
herself menstruating, she cannot even return to the
village, but has to seek shelter with neighbours for
three days. On the fourth day she returns, bringing
with her a gourd of water. When she reaches the
thomi, or meeting-place outside the village, she pours
some of the water into a half gourd and washes herself.
She can then enter both village and hut without
further ceremony. This applies to both sections of
the tribe.

(66) When a new hut is built, the first fire to be lit

124 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

in it must be brought from a fire out in a shamba, or
field, not from another hut. If fire cannot be obtained
from a shamba it is first obtained from another village ;
with this a fire is lit in a shamba and burning sticks are
taken from that fire. The Kikuyu state that they are
afraid to get fire direct from another village in case
they bring some unknown thahu along with it or with
the firewood; they consider it a great risk, parti-
cularly for the children, who might get thin and ill in
consequence.

Two or three days after the first fire has been lit a
male sheep has to be slaughtered by the owner of the
village. The meat is cooked in the hut, and the blood
is poured out on the village thomi, then beer is brewed
and a libation of it is poured out inside the hut near the
door and on the thomi or village green. The above
applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion. Those
circumcised Masai fashion make the first fire in a new
hut by friction with a firestick, and the wood for the first
fire must come from two of the trees sacred to this
branch, viz., mutamaiyu and mutarakwa (juniper).

(67) Anyone can impose a thahu upon the owner
of a hut by plucking out a handful of thatch from over
the door and throwing it on the ground. The thahu
apparently affects the wife who lives in the hut, and
she is apt to be attacked by a wasting disease. To
remove the evil effects, a number of elders and a
mundu mugo, or medicine man, are called in ; they
kill a ram or young ewe, which has not yet borne, near
the door of the hut, and sprinkle the tatha inside the
hut and at the door. They then take a rough brush
made of twigs of the marario and mahoroa bushes and
sweep up the tatha. This proceeding purifies the hut.
They also sprinkle some of the tatha on the thatch over
the door and put some muthakwa and mukenia sprigs
in the place where the piece of thatch was taken.

Only the elders and the medicine man eat the meat
of the sacrifice; none of the inhabitants of the village
must touch it, and even the brothers of the owner of

THE CURSE 125

the hut may not eat any. If the hut is not thus
purified, it must be forthwith destroyed.

Should the thatch be pulled out unintentionally by
a drunken man, he will only have to pay a goat for the
purification ceremony. If, on the other hand, it is done
with evil intent, the kiama, or council of elders, will
fine the offender five goats. The writer is indebted
to Mr Beech for bringing this example to his notice.

If a man goes to sleep at a strange village, and if
the owner belongs to the same rika as himself, he is
told to sleep in the hut of one of the wives of the owner.
If this woman has lost a child and has not performed
the usual purification ceremonies after a death, the man
will return home with a thahu and will pass it on to
the wife in whose hut he sleeps on his return home.

It is necessary for the hut to be purified as in the
previous case, and then the man and his wife have
also to be purified.

Again, if a wife goes and sleeps abroad and cohabits
with a man who has assisted in the burial of a corpse
or touched a corpse and not yet been purified, she will,
on returning home, bring a thahu to her husband, and
the same ceremony of lustration has to be undergone.

(68) The last of the Kikuyu thahu which will be
quoted is one of some importance, as it may be, in
primitive culture, the germ of one of the beliefs which
affects the life of civilised peoples ; this is the ill luck
which is attached to the seventh day.

A herdsman wall not herd his flocks for more than
six days, and on the seventh must be relieved by
another man.

If a man has been on a journey and absent for six
days he must not return home on the seventh day, and
must observe continence on the seventh day; rather
than return to his village on that day he will go and
sleep at the house of a neighbour a short distance away.
If this law is broken, serious illness is certain to
supervene and a medicine man {mundu mugo) has to
be called in to remove the curse. Both sections of the

126 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

tribe are subject to it, and both male and female are
affected. Moreover, the live stock of the offender
will become sick.

This belief makes it easy for the missionaries to
explain to the Kikuyu the meaning of the Christian
observance of the Sabbath.

An important point in connection with thahu in
Kikuyu which previously escaped notice is that an
owner of a village, if he belongs to the Kikuyu circum-
cision guild, cannot enter or sleep in a hut which has
been ceremonially purified until two days have elapsed,
or for two months if he belongs to the Masai guild.
This prohibition has a very practical effect, for in cases
where the whole village has to be purified to rid it of
some serious ihahu the owner of the village would
naturally be homeless for either two days or two months,
as the case may be. To obviate this difficulty the puri-
fication ceremony is carried out in two instalments:
one half of the village is done first, and a little later the
medicine man returns and performs the lustration
ceremony on the other half ; the people are not thus
greatly inconvenienced.

A variant of the word thahu in Kikuyu, which is
often used by the old men, is nzahu.

It appears upon inquiry that not every elder in
Kikuyu has the power of removing thahu, but only
such as have lost a wife who is a mother.

If a wife dies and leaves children, the husband calls
in two athun ya ukuu (these are the very senior elders),
a muthuri ya kiama (elder of council), and an old
woman past the age of child bearing.

They kill a lamb, mwati, or a ram, and the elders
then take the tatha (stomach contents), pour them into
a half gourd, njeVi, dip a bundle of leaves in the tatha
and sprinkle the hut. This ceremony is believed to
remove from the father and his children the thahu left
by the death. The half gourd is then placed at the bed
head of the father. A medicine man finally comes and
purifies the whole family. If his generation or age is

THE CURSE 127

junior to that of the elders who come to perform the
above ceremony he cannot participate in it, but has
to sit apart.

After this the father is considered to be eligible to
take part in ceremonial connected with the removal of
ihahu, but only if he is a qualified muthuri ya kiama
ya imbufi nne or mburi ithano; that is to say, if he has
reached the grade to which the entrance fee is four
goats or five goats.

Partial Immunity of Elders from Thahu. — The
elders of the highest grade, ukuru^ are as a rule proof
against the incidence of thahu. They probably acquire
a certain sanctity from their communion with the deity
when they take part in the performance of sacrifices
at the sacred trees and can thus be considered as a
primitive priesthood. If, however, they assist in the
burial of a corpse and cohabit with their wives within
two months, they will be stricken with illness. If they
participate in the native oath ringa thengi, they must be
celibate for four months, and if they assist at the
kithathi or githathi oath ceremony, they must remain
so for five months, or nothing can save them. In all
the above cases they must, like ordinary people, be
purified by a medicine man before they can resume
their marital relations.

Thabu in Ukamba. — In Ukamba thahu is called
thabu or makwa, and the popular attitude towards it is
very similar to that existing in Kikuyu, but it does not
appear to be such an important factor in the lives of
the people, and for some reason or other does not seem
to have reached such a high development. It is looked
upon with awe, and people generally dislike to discuss
it. The bulk of the elders can therefore only give
one or two examples of it. They declare that the
only people who can give much information are the
atumia ya makwa (elders of makwa) and atumia ya
ukuu (elders of ukuu), and these important people
undoubtedly endeavour to envelop the beliefs in
mystery.

128 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The incidence of makwa or thabu does not appear
to be nearly so frequent in Ukamba as it is in Kikuyu.
The Kamba, in fact, sneer at the Kikuyu, and
say they are full of makwa. Moreover, owing to the
reticence of the Kamba on the subject, it is not easy
to collect examples. Mr C. Dundas, who has assisted
in this inquiry, had to pay a fee of a bullock for himself
and a goat for his interpreter before he could get any
information on the subject. These fees admitted him
to the grade of mutumia ya ukuu. All inquiries,
however, had to be conducted in a low tone, and no
one was allowed to listen. The following are all that
have been discovered up to date, but there is little
doubt that others exist :

(i) On the death of a man the village is unclean
and must be purified by the elders, and during the
period of purification strict continence must be
observed by all those resident in the village. If a man
fails to observe this rule he will become afflicted with
makwa) also the woman, providing she belongs to the
village where the death has taken place. Moreover,
if a daughter of the deceased who is living away from
the village visits there within eleven days of the death
of her father, she will become afflicted.

The curse is removed in the same way in either of
the above cases. A brother of the deceased must first
cohabit with his wife. He then brings a goat and the
afflicted person brings some beer. One of the elders
then collects twigs of the movu, mulale, and muteme
bushes; these are pounded up with water, and the
mixture is called n^ondu. Some of the ngnondu is
poured down the goat’s throat, the idea probably being
to purify the animal ceremonially. The patient then
walks three times round the goat, and the animal is
lifted up by the elders. Its throat is cut and the blood
spurts over the patient’s head and body. A piece of
stick is then placed under his left arm and another
between the toes of his right foot; two elders take hold
of each of these sticks and pull them away saying, “ We

THE CURSE 129

purify you.” The belief is possibly that by some
magical process the defilement is passed into the sticks.
Subsequently the brother of the deceased again
cohabits with the same wife, and the patient is then
cured.

(2) A man may not lie on his mother’s bed, or even
take any articles from it, without becoming makwa.
Upon the death of his father he inherits, and is then
entitled to use, his father’s bed, which was, of course,
also occupied by his mother, and it is therefore
necessary that he should be protected from any evil
which may come from this. So the elders make a
mixture called n^ondu, and smear the soles of his feet
with it; they also sprinkle the framework of the bed.
They say that if this were not done the son would
become makwa if he even put his foot on the bed. If
a son becomes makwa through transgressing this law
before his father’s death, he has to be purified as in the
previous case. It is suspected that this prohibition
was devised as a safeguard against incest, but if the
theory is correct the natives seem to have forgotten the
reason. A man, moreover, may not sit on his brother-
in-law’s bed without incurring thabu.

Reference is invited to the author’s work on the
“ Ethnology of the A-Kamba ” (Camb. Press), p. 65,
discussing the danger to a girl if a stranger touches her
menstrual blood ; this is a clear case of makwa, which
falls on the girl in consequence.

Some of the prohibitions mentioned on p. 102 op.
cit. are also cases of makwa, and on p. 97 op. cit. there
is an account of a man who was suffering from thabu
or makwa. At the time, unfortunately, the importance
of the phenomena had not been fully recognised.

(3) If a man dies and leaves young wives, the
sons usually take them over ; but, of course, a son must
not marry his mother. A son cannot, however, succeed
to one of his father’s wives until the elders have
performed certain ceremonies. If he cohabits with
her before these are carried out he will become makwa.

I

180 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

To remove the curse in this case the ceremonial is
as follows : a paternal uncle of the offender collects
the elders and provides beer for them; the woman
concerned brings a goat. The elders make some of
the n^ondu mixture, which is handed to the patient,
who pretends to pay it to the elders. The elders then
bring a branch of a tree called muuti and tell him to
pay it to his uncle. He does so by throwing it at his
uncle, saying, “ I pay you before the elders.” This
looks as if the spirit of the deceased father were
offended, and ceremonial payment had to be made
to the brother of the deceased, who for the time being
represents him.

A piece of wood about fifteen inches long, cut from
a mukingezia tree, is then brought. This is first
inserted into the vaginal passage of the woman, and
the man’s penis is then touched with it twice or thrice.
One of the elders afterwards carries the stick away
and throws it across a river saying, “ I throw this evil
away.” In the evening the uncle cohabits with the
woman. The makwa is thus believed to be removed,
but the man can never have anything to do with that
woman again. He can, however, marry another of his
father’s wives after the elders have performed the
necessary rites.

(4) After the death of a father none of the sons
may take honey from the father’s hives until the
paternal uncle has first done so. Any who break
this law will become makwa. It can, however, be
removed by the uncle, who brings a sheep, and he, the
elders, and the mother of the patient lead the sheep
three times round the patient ; at the conclusion of the
third turn the sheep is lifted up and its throat is cut,
and the blood is allowed to spurt over the patient.
The animal’s throat is cut by one of the elders, whose
forearm is held by the uncle and the mother. After
this ceremony the patient is believed to be cured, and
he can take honey. It may be that this was devised
to prevent a son rushing off into the woods after his

THE CURSE 131

father’s death and annexing any honey he found,
irrespective of whether such and such a hive would
fall to his share when the elders decided as to the
division of the estate.

(5) If a woman loses a young child by death it is
necessary for her to have her breasts ceremonially
purified by a qualified elder, or it is believed that any
future children she may bear will die of makwa.

(6) If a man cohabits with a married woman in the
woods while the cattle are out grazing, it brings makwa
upon the cattle and they will die. The woman,
however, is generally afraid of evil falling on the
precious cattle, and confesses. The cattle are then
taken out of their kraal, medicine is placed on the
ground at the gate, and they are then driven back over
^the medicine, and this lifts the curse. The woman

has also to be ceremonially purified by an elder.

(7) If a woman who has borne children is forced
by a man a curse is said to fall on the children and
they will die. The evil can, however, be averted if she
is purified by an elder ; the man has to pay a goat and
the expenses of the purification ceremony.

(8) If a hyaena defaecates in a village during the
night a makwa falls on the village, and the elders have
to kill a goat and purify {tafiska) the village.

(9) Some medicine men have the power to place
a makwa upon one of their wives who is a particular
favourite. This is done by medicine, but the details
are kept secret. If a man seduces the woman in
question it is said that death will ensue unless he can
by payment induce the medicine man to lift the curse.

(10) If a person goes to his mother’s native village
and eats food there, and if by any chance a death has
occurred in that village and the funeral ceremonies are
not completed, he will be stricken with makwa. Even
if a wife goes to pay a visit to her father’s village under
the above circumstances the result is the same. This
form of makwa can only be removed by a medicine
man.

132 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The little known Thaka or Tharaka people in the
Tana Valley south-east of Kenia also believe in makwa,
and use the same word for it. A few examples
have been collected by Mr C. Dundas, and are given
below:

(1) If a village is ceremonially unclean for some
reason or other, and a man cohabits therein with a
person of the opposite sex before it is purified, they
are both stricken with makwa.

(2) If a man belonging to a village has been absent
on the occasion of a death and at the necessary sub-
sequent purification of the village, he may not enter
until a sheep has been killed and the contents smeared
on the threshold of his mother’s hut. If this lustration
ceremony is omitted he is stricken with makwa.

(3) After the death of the head of a family the sons
may take the younger widows to wife, but not until
the brother of the deceased has ceremonially cohabited
with the principal wife of the deceased. If this rite
is not observed before a son marries one of his father’s
widows, he will become makwa.

Little is yet known of the procedure which has to
be adopted to remove the makwa, but it is said that
only medicine men can do so. An elder, seen recently,
who was covered with small sores, and some of whose
toes had dropped off, was stated to be suffering from
makwa, due to infringement of the rule mentioned in
example (i) above.

A new road was recently opened in Kikuyu country,
and where it crossed the Ruiru River a bridge was built.
At one end of the bridge an arch, made of bent sticks,
was erected, and on this a small wicker-work arrange-
ment was suspended. Over the bent sticks a strip of
the skin of a sheep was entwined. This was called
“ rigi',' and was a miniature of the wicker door of a hut.
The Ruiru River at this place is the boundary between
two sections of the country, and the object of the model
door was to prevent evil influences, or thahu, entering
the neighbouring area by the bridge. The strip of

THE CURSE 183

skin was taken from a sheep which had been sacrificed
there.

There is a curious belief in Kikuyu with regard to
the burning of a hut. If a hut is burned down, the
owner must not lodge the goats from that hut in the
house of a friend, the idea being that the hut caught
fire as the result of some kind of thahu, and that the
goats are probably infected with the thahu and may
thus bring sickness to other people’s animals. There
was, for instance, a case where a hut was destroyed by
fire, along with several goats, but the people dare not
eat the carcases, although the meat was apparently quite
wholesome.

When a burnt hut is rebuilt, a goat is slaughtered to
prevent the new hut from being destroyed by fire.
The meat of the goat is eaten by the elders, and
the skin is given to an elder who has had a hut
burnt. But although he may use the skin he must not
sell it.

Extinction of Fire in a Hut. — Though not defin-
itely connected with the thahu beliefs, the ill luck
which is associated with the extinction of fire in a hut
is rather interesting to note.

If a man has several huts it is considered extremely
unlucky if the fire goes out in all of them in a single
night. He must at once summon the elders, who kill
a male sheep and sprinkle some of the stomach contents
or tatha on each fireplace. If his nearest neighbours
live some little way off, he relights the fire by means of
a fire stick, mwaki ku-thegetha, but if they live near by
he begs some fire from them. When the sheep is
killed they also fry the fat in a cooking pot and sprinkle
some of it in the village and pray to Engai (God) —
“ We give thee fat to drink, and beg thee not to
extinguish the fire again.”

When fire goes out in the hut of a medicine man
it is not necessary for him to kill a sheep like ordinary
people, but he feels the ill luck all the same. He dare
not travel next day, and if anyone comes to him for

134 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

medicine or to be purified, he will not perform the
ceremony until a whole day has elapsed.

The elders who were interrogated about this were
quite clear that it was God who put out the fire and
not the ngoma, or spirits.

Effects of Breaking a Tabu. — A curious case of
the results of an infringement of tabu recently came to
the notice of an officer in Western Ukamba. He was
inspecting the hospital, and found there a Kamba porter
stricken with illness; his face was much swollen and
covered by a kind of congested rash, and his testicles
were also swollen. On inquiry, he stated that his affec-
tion came on suddenly after eating some hartebeest
meat, and that he belonged to the Aitangwa clan, in
which this was a forbidden meat. The officer immedi-
ately sought out an intelligent Mu- Kamba, who knew
nothing about the incident, and asked about the
Aitangwa and their tabu, or niakwa, and without hesita-
tion he was told that hartebeest meat was forbidden,
and described exactly the symptoms from which the
porter was suffering as being the result of breaking the
prohibition. It was said that the man would have to
sacrifice a goat and go through a purification ceremony
to get rid of the affliction. The final result was not
heard.

These phenomena are very curious, and psycholo-
gists would no doubt attribute them to self-hypnotic
suggestion. It must, however, be remembered that a
man who breaks the clan tabu is probably, before
breaking it, very sceptical as to the evil effects, and,
being sceptical, would presumably be proof against the
hypnotic auto-suggestion.

{f}) Purification and Blessing

Ku-tahikia in Kikuyu. — Reference has been made
to purification by the medicine man, which generally
concludes the ceremonies connected with the remov^
of thahu. This ceremony is the same in all cases in

THE CURSE 185

which it is considered necessary; it may vary a little
according to the practice of a particular medicine man,
but that is all.

The writer was recently present at one of these
ceremonies, and the procedure was as follows: The
medicine man first received a sheep ; he then made a
small incision between the hoofs of the right foreleg
and rubbed a little medicine into the wound. The
medicine consisted of a powder made from the
mararia bush and mahunyuru, which is the epidermis
and hair of a sheep. Probably the idea underlying this
was a consecration of the animal for the purpose of
the ceremony. The medicine man then brought a
number of sprigs of various plants:

Mahoroa,

M ufumbai,

Um/i-Emilia.^

Mukandu,

Muchaika-¥.mi\id., sp.,

Matei or Mitei,

Ihurura, a creeping, vine-like plant.

He separated these into two bundles, and bound each
at the base with the creeper ihurura \ they resembled
two hand brushes of green leaves.

The mother of the patient or person who was to be
purified then fetched about a pint of water from the
stream, carrying it in a couple of banana leaves laid
over each other. A small depression was scooped in
the ground, and the water, still in the banana leaves, was
deposited therein. The medicine man and the patient
squatted opposite each other. The former then put a
variety of powders in the water. These were
enumerated as follows:

(1) Powder made from the stomach contents of the

tree hyrax.

(2) Rutkuku made from the muhokora root.

(3) U mu, a reddish powder made from the root of a

thorny plant.

136 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

(4) A powder made from the imra (papyrus) and
the mahoroa plant.

He then produced the dried right black forefoot of
a sheep, dipped it in the water, stirred up the contents,
and placed the wetted foot in the mouth of the patient,
who licked it vigorously and then expectorated the
liquid on the ground. This was repeated some twenty
or thirty times, the medicine man incessantly recount-
ing all kinds of dangers and evils in a chanting voice
with a general refrain, “ May you be delivered from all
these.” He then took one of the bundles of plants
and dipped the lower end in the water. The patient
licked it and expectorated, as above described, the
medicine man chanting the whole time.

The same procedure was adopted with the second
bundle of leaves.

The patient then stood up; the medicine man took
one of the brushes, dipped it in the water, and sprinkled
the patient’s head and wiped the front of his body
with the wetted bundle of leaves. The patient now
turned round and the back of his body was similarly
treated.

The patient then knelt down and washed his face
with the water and washed each foot and leg. This
done, he wiped his face, feet, and legs, first with one
bundle and then with the other. The patient then put
his finger into the water and pierced the banana leaf
basin, and the water soaked away into the earth.
Thereupon the medicine man gathered up the banana
leaves and his bundle of leaves and deposited them
on the village manure heap, kiaraini.

There was still a final stage of the proceeding, viz.,
the anointing with white clay, ira. The patient still
stood in front of the medicine man, who took from a
small gourd some of the white earth, and smeared it
down the line of the nose, on the upper lip, under the
chin, on the right and left big toe, and on the palms of
both hands. A little of the medicines called irura and

THE CURSE 137

muhokora were then taken and a little placed in the
palm of each hand of the patient, who crossed his hands
and, holding them in this position, alternately licked
each palm. The medicine man then licked a little of
the above medicine, and the ceremony was finished.

The purification ceremony cannot be performed
without payment ; it is otherwise of no avail.

Ceremonial Blessing by a Medicine Man
{Kikuyu). — This is believed to be efficacious, upon
certain occasions, against evil and as a purification.
The medicine man gives the supplicant a powder made
from an aromatic root called muhokora. It is of a
greyish brown colour; a little is poured into his hand
and he eats it. The medicine man also eats some, with
the object, perhaps, of showing the patient that nothing
bad has been mixed with it.

The medicine man then takes a long narrow gourd
with tiny holes on one side of it and shakes out, as
from a pepper castor, a powder made of the roots of
the muhokora and mchanja muka plants, and at the
same time uttering a prayer. The patient receives the
powder on his hands and rubs it on his head and down
the middle of his forehead. The medicine man now
takes a draught of beer and ceremonially spits a little
on to each of his breasts, first, however, spitting a little
on the ground as a libation to the ngoma, or ancestral
spirits.

The general idea of the purification ceremony is of
a dual character; its first object is to cast out the con-
tamination of an evil influence and, this being done, to
re-establish normal relations between the worshipper
and his deity. It is believed that among African natives
the idea of the evil influence is not very concrete, but
among other peoples the evil influence assumes the
shape of a demon, the nature of which may be identified
by a magician and expelled by him by the use of
appropriate formulae. The one is a higher develop-
ment of the other. In Math. xvii. 14, and Mark ix.
14, for instance, we find the founder of the Christian

188 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

religion playing the part of the magician and casting
out an evil spirit. The only parallel to this class of
procedure among the African natives under investiga-
tion is the curious Engai possession of the Kamba and
the ritual undertaken to cure persons possessed: the
odd point about those ceremonies, however, is that
although the afflicted person for whom the dances are
convened may be cured, others will be seized during
the proceedings, the affliction apparendy becoming
infectious.

Kithangaona cha muchi — The Purification Sacri-
fice for a Village {Kamba of Kitui). — If sickness
becomes prevalent in a village, the headman will con-
sult a medicine man, who may declare that the spirit
{imu) of a person who died long ago is bothering the
people and needs appeasing, and he will therefore order
a fowl to be taken round the village ceremonially and
killed. This is supposed to be very efficacious in
restoring the good luck of the village, and is done as
follows : the village head will walk round outside the
village with some ashes in his right hand and a fowl
in the left ; on reaching a point opposite the gate of the
village the fowl will be leleased and allowed to fly
inside. It is then caught again and its throat is cut
and the knife is afterwards buried in the cattle kraal.
The children of the village eat the fowl. The village
head then prays to the deity {Engai) to remove the
sickness and keep it from the village, and afterwards
prays to the imu, or spirit, of the deceased person who
is supposed to have brought the sickness. It is stated
that they first pray to Engai because the imu is believed
to have gone to Engai.

The aiimu which afflict villages are said to be
usually those of deceased medicine men who, when
alive, were supposed to communicate with Engai in
their dreams. They declare that they have seen
someone glowing like a fire, giving such and such a
message.

There is another kithangaona cha muchi, which

THE CURSE 189

also deals with sickness in a village, but differs from
the previous example in which a fowl is used. As with
European physicians, the practice of medicine men
varies for individual patients.

The magician, having decided that the sickness is
due to the imu of a deceased person, will order the
women of the village to grind some mawele or wimbi
flour and cook it and make porridge.

The porridge is brought to the hut of the afiiicted
person and some butter is added ; the people present
dip their wooden spoons in the porridge and each one
eats a little and then throws some on to the floor as an
offering to the imu ; the senior wife of the village head
commences and the others follow suit.

The village head then brews some beer, drinks a
little, and pours some out to the troublesome imu.
Having done this he kills a he-goat, cuts a strip of
meat from the breast, cooks it, and deposits it at the
door of the hut. It is probably eaten by the village
dogs or fowls, but this does not matter.

The people then pray to the spirit and say, “ We
have given you food, beer, and meat, we beseech you
to allow the sick one to recover.”

Kithangaona cha mburi — The Purification Sacri-
fice of the Goat. — On some occasions the medicine
man will advise that the ceremony of kithangaona cha
mburi be performed. This is done as follows : The
evening before the ceremony, the head of the village
puts a stone in the hut fire and leaves it there all night ;
next morning he calls a small boy and girl, and the
former, accompanied by the headman, leads a male
goat round the outside of the village, followed by the
girl. The goat must be all one colour and not spotted.
When the party reaches the gate of the village the
headman takes a half gourd of water and places it on
the goat’s head between the horns. The red hot stone
is brought out from the glowing embers in the hut,
dropped into the bowl of water, causing the water to boil
and give off steam. A hole is now dug at the door

140 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

of the hut of the village head, who holds the stone over
the hole and prays as follows : “ Engai muimu mivo
nathika dikoni wao mivo nathika hivia nathika wao
pamwe nabia hii,” which, freely translated, means ;
“ Oh God, I do not wish to see the sickness enter my
village, so now I bury this stone and bury the sickness
with it.” The goat is not killed, but is allowed to go
free. This is an unusual proceeding. It is a curious
example of a combination of magic and primitive
religion.

Kithangaona cha munda— Prayers for Crops
{Kitui). — When a villager sees that his crops are suffer-
ing from drought, the ravages of insect pests, and so
forth, he will go to a river bed and cut the branch of a
tree called kindio which grows there. He will then
take the egg of a fowl, dig a hole in the ground, among
the crops, and place the egg in it, planting the branch
of the kindio tree in the hole. He prays to the deity
{Engai) beseeching him to make his crops grow like
the kindio, a tree which never withers. The egg is
said to be used because of its nourishing properties,
and it is also believed that no bad influence can pene-
trate its shell. This is a very pretty example of
homoeopathic magic.

The Dedication of the Bull — Kithangaona cha
nzau — Kitui A-Kamba. — It sometimes happens that
when a man consults a magician about a contemplated
marriage, or some other matter, the magician informs
him that in his village a cow is in calf and that this cow
will bear a bull calf which will be of a certain colour,
red or black or spotted. He tells the owner that the
calf must not be killed or sold in the ordinary way,
as it will be the property of the ancestral spirits {nzau
ya aiimu), or will be dedicated to them. If, however,
it is necessary at any time to kill this beast, some beer
must be brewed, and the meat must be divided among
the owner’s wives. No portion with a bone in it must
be given to a stranger, but all the bones should be
collected and buried in the cattle kraal. The meat of

141

THE CURSE

the beast must be cooked and offered to the aiimu,
and some of the beer poured out to them. The bones
of the carcase may be broken, if so desired.

A beast thus dedicated to the aiimu will never die
of disease. If, for any special reason, the owner
wishes to sell or kill such a bull, a substitute must be
found for it, and an important ceremony has to be
observed. The original animal and the substitute are
tied and thrown on their sides; the two animals are
then placed touching each other. Some hair is cut
from the forehead, the chest, and the tail of the
original beast and placed on the substitute, the
animals being then released. The aiimu are addressed,
and it is explained to them that owing to pressing
reasons the original beast has to be killed or sold,
as the case may be, but that a suitable substitute
has been provided. Some beer is brewed, and a liba-
tion of it is poured out in the hut of the village
head.

Old Testament Parallels. — It is considered that
the principle of thahu or thabu existed among the
Israelites, and the following references to Mosaic law
may be reasonably quoted :

Leviticus xix. 8 : “ Therefore everyone that eateth
it shall bear his iniquity because he hath profaned the
hallowed thing of the Lord and that soul shall be cut
off from among his people.”

This refers to the eating of a sacrifice of peace
offerings on the third day; it may be eaten the day
of the sacrifice and the following day, but if eaten
at all on the third day, inflicts a thabu on the
culprit.

Leviticus xix. 22: “And the priest shall make an
atonement for him with the ram of his trespass offering
. . . and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven
him.”

This can be taken as a case of a man who has
committed a crime against tribal law, and takes a ram
to the priest or one of the elders of the tribe, who

142 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

performs the ceremony of tahikia to cleanse him from
his sin.

The elaborate ceremonial laid down in Leviticus
xiv. dealing with the case of purification from the
plague of leprosy might be the procedure adopted by
a Kikuyu medicine man to-day : the use of special
plants, the sacrifice of a ewe lamb of the first year.
The latter is identical with the mwati of Kikuyu
practice.

It is laid down in verse 19 that : “ The priest shall
offer the sin offering and make atonement for him that
is to be cleansed.” This certainly looks as if the
plague were the result of evil-doing on the part of the
patient, and of the nature of a thahu, and is quite in
accordance with present-day beliefs in Kikuyu and
Ukamba.

The comminatory chapters xxviii. in Deuter-
onomy are of considerable interest as a parallel to the
cases quoted as existing to-day in Africa, e.g., xxviii.
45 : “ And all these curses shall come upon thee and
shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be
destroyed.”

General Remarks on Thahu and Thabu. — It will
be well to review the results of this inquiry. It should
be noted that in a number of cases, about one-third of
those enumerated, the thahu is brought upon the
offender or brought upon a third party, by the inten-
tional act of the offender; in other cases the person,
and sometimes the live stock, are the victims of
circumstances over which there is no control.

The investigations throw a vivid light upon the
complicated nature of the life history of a Mu-Kikuyu
or Mu-Kamba, and it is evident that a native of one of
these tribes cannot go through life without becoming
thahu or thabu some time or other.

Mr C. Dundas, writing on this subject, says with
regard to the Kikuyu people : “ The fear of thahu is
always present, a man may be subject to it without
knowing the cause. When anyone goes on a journey

THE CURSE 148

he cannot tell whether he may not have contracted
thahu in strange houses and villages, and therefore
when he returns he will kill a goat for purification before
he enters his village. This was done on one occasion
by a number of elders who had been on a journey with
me, but as they were representatives of the western part
of the district, the goat was killed on crossing the
Kamiti River, which river they regarded as the
boundary of their country.”

Unmarried men and girls are not subject to thahu.
On one occasion a woman in hospital was said to be
suffering from thahu caused by having touched the
genitals of a strange man ; the symptoms of thahu were
in reality only a bed sore, but a medicine man was
called in to cure her. A case, in which a man was sued
for a goat for the purification of a woman whom he had
raped, and who, in consequence, could not suckle her
child until she was purified, was tried before a kiama.
The idea seemed to be that the child would become
thahu.

The thahu is, however, in nearly all cases removable
by the elders and medicine men for payment, and it
may therefore be urged that the belief has not much
value as a moral restraint. This view cannot, however,
be seriously maintained for the following reasons:
Take the case of a person who commits an act which
he knows will bring thahu ; it must be clearly under-
stood that he never questions the validity of the
principle ; he goes about with the burden of the misdeed
on his conscience, and this worries him so much that
he gradually gets thin and ill, and puts it down to the
thahu. It therefore ends by his confessing to the
elders and begging them to free him from the curse.
It is in essence nothing more or less than the confession
and absolution of the Christian Church. Then again
we have to consider the publicity of kraal life, where
very little goes on which is not known to the neigh-
bours ; polygamy also increases this, a man confides in
one wife, she tells another wife and so it goes through

144 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the village ; if one person commits an act which inflicts
thahu on himself or a neighbour, it will gradually leak
out by some means or other, and public opinion will
insist on measures being taken to remove it. No
living person would ever dream of evading the wrath
of the ngoma, or ancestral spirits. Occasions may, of
course, arise when the commission of a prohibited act
may involve a third party, and the person who com-
mitted it may preserve silence on the point, but the
elders will in most cases be in possession of complete
information as to the movements of every person in
the neighbourhood, and, moreover, the demeanour of
the conscience-stricken culprit will invite suspicion, so
in practice it is but rarely that the offender is not
detected.

In some of the examples of thahu which are cited
above, cases will be noted in which the hut is affected
and has to be forthwith demolished if the curse is not
removed ; this feature appears to be worthy of note,
and it may in some measure account for the low type of
domestic architecture among these tribes. Obviously
there is but little incentive to build large permanent
structures if, owing to the incidence of a thahu, the
owner may have to demolish them at any moment. The
author’s attention was first called to this point by a
learned French missionary who has studied the
Kikuyu for many years.

It must not be assumed that every native is con-
versant with all the acts of omission or commission
by which thahu or thabu may be incurred and there
are doubtless variations in different areas, i.e., the
thahu of Western Kenya are not identical in number
and character with those of Kyambu district. All the
tribesmen, however, know a certain number, and if
anything untoward occurs to a man he will consider it
advisable to consult an elder; the elder will cross-
examine him and ask if he has done so-and-so, or
omitted to do certain things. Eventually the applicant
will admit having done something which results in a

THE CURSE 145

thahu ; the way is then clear, and appropriate treatment
must be sought in the proper quarter. Ridiculous as
most of these taboos appear, they probably have a
general value in regulating conduct in communities
where legal restraint is in an undeveloped state.

{c) The Dying Curse

This is a very interesting belief, which occurs in
both Kikuyu and Ukamba. In Kikuyu it is called
kirume, and in Ukamba kiume. The belief is also
said to be found, under the name of ukuongo, among
the Ja-Luo Kavirondo.

It is really a thahu, thahu, or makwa which can be
suspended by a dying man over his descendants.
The same idea, somewhat inverted, exists among the
Swahili, who call it rathi, or the dying blessing. If a
man does not receive his father’s blessing, he is believed
to go through life attended by much misfortune.

The general idea is that a dying person can put a
curse upon property belonging to him, or can lay a
curse upon another person, but only upon a person
belonging to his own family; thus, for example, the
head of a village, when dying, can lay a curse on a
certain plot of land owned by him and will that it shall
not pass out of the family, and if a descendant sells it,
his speedy death is said to follow. A case recently
came to the author’s knowledge where an elder was
offered a very tempting sum for a particular piece of
land, and equivalent land elsewhere, but refused it
because the property had come down to him with a
kirume on it. This is a very interesting revelation, be-
cause when one comes to consider it, in all probability it
is the genesis of a last will or testament. Furthermore,
it is the rude beginning of our principle of “ entail.” It
shows, moreover, that these people have almost reached
the stage of individual tenure in land, or at any rate,
of tenure by the family, the head of the village being
the trustee for the family, and it is his duty to see

K

146 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

that the gethaka rights are preserved intact. The
gethaka is the portion of a ridge owned by a particular
family, title being obtained by an ancestor by purchase
from the original occupiers, the Dorobo hunting tribes.

If the head of the family feels that he is nearing
his end he assembles his sons, and to the eldest he
will probably say, “ The goats belonging to such a hut
shall be yours ” ; he will then call another son and say,
“ The goats of such and such a hut shall be yours, and
if any of you break these wishes he shall surely die.”
He will then mention a certain shamba (cultivated
field) and say, “ Such and such a shamba shall not be
sold, and if this wish is broken the one who sells it shall
die.” This operates as an entail on the property which
will be passed on from generation to generation; such
is the strength of the belief. Upon inquiry, examples
may be found all over the country.

Another case quoted was that of a man who had a
ne’er-do-well son who was in the habit of pilfering the
neighbouring villages ; the custom is for those who
have suffered to collect and seize the equivalent of their
losses from his father. If this continues, the father,
in the end, becomes so annoyed with his son’s misdeeds
that he will put a kimme on him when on his death-
bed. There is quite a mediaeval flavour about this
action.

Sometimes, too, a man, when he is very old,
entrusts a son with charge of his live stock, and the son
may abuse the trust and let the flocks and herds melt
away. Cases have been known where an old patriarch
on his death-bed has put a kintme on his son to the
effect that he shall neither grow rich nor have wives,
but to the end of his life shall be condemned to
perpetual poverty.

Again, a daughter may be a trouble to her father ;
she is, say, married to a husband who has paid
the required dowry to her father; she runs away,
repeatedly misbehaves herself, and so forth, and the
father will then be subject to continual worry, owing to

THE CURSE 147

the husband’s demands for the return of the dowry.
The father may eventually become so weary of all this
worry that he will put a kirume on her and condemn
her to perpetual barrenness.

Another case quoted was that of two brothers, one
rich and one poor ; the poor man may be envious of
his brother and hate him in consequence. One day
they go to drink beer, and, excited by the liquor, the
poorer one brutally attacks his brother and grievously
injures him. When the injured man recovers con-
sciousness he will call his brother and say, “ You have
always been jealous of my wealth, and now I shall
probably die from treatment received at your hands,
but when I am dead if you attempt to seize any of
my property you shall only be able to look at it, for
if you touch a single head of stock you will die,
and if your son comes to take any of my beasts he will
also die.”

If a dying man calls out to a man of his own clan,
mukirika, or morika, and makes a request such as,
“ Give me water,” and the person refuses, the dying
man can impose a kirume upon the one who refuses.

A man is, generally speaking, only able to lay a
kirume upon a person belonging to his own mukirika,
or clan, which really means that a kirume will only
affect one with a common blood tie.

There are, however, two exceptions to this :

If a man of one clan marries a woman of another
clan (as is the rule) he can, if necessity arises, place a
kirume upon the family of his wife if they live in the
village of his father-in-law, because they have, as the
expression runs, “ Eaten of his property,” referring to
the live stock he has paid over to his father-in-law for
his wife.

The converse can also happen, for if a man has
married a woman and has not paid his father-in-law the
full amount agreed upon, the father-in-law when he
dies can impose a kirume upon his son-in-law, and such
kirume may also extend to his daughter, the idea

148 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

probably being that the daughter has not sufficiently
worried her husband to pay the balance due.

The power to impose a kirume is apparently not
altogether confined to elders, for it is said that if an
incorrigible child is driven away from home, becomes
starved and dies in consequence, it can, before it dies,
curse its parents and say, “You have treated me like
this, and therefore you shall not have any more
children.”

It is said that if a person hears that someone of his
own clan is threatening to impose a kirume on him, he
can take steps to prevent its infliction. The procedure
was described as follows : If a person hears that, say, a
brother intended to place a kirume on him, he at once
takes a male goat or sheep to his village and kills it
there ; he offers some of the fat, some milk and beer
to the dying man, who cannot refuse to forgive the
suppliant, and who ceremonially spits into his hands
and rubs a little saliva on his forehead, navel, and feet.
The threatened person then departs in peace, free from
any danger of a kirume from that person. This applies
to both guilds.

One curious case of kirume which was described
deserves notice. It is probably very rare, but it
possibly carries evidence of the ancient origin of the
belief and dates back to matriarchal times.

Suppose a dying mwanake, or member of the
warrior age, lays a kirume upon his maternal grand-
father, what course would he pursue to rid himself of
the dangerous infliction? If he was unable to get the
one who imposed it to spit on him as above described,
he would have to seek a grandson by another daughter,
take or send to him a male goat, some beer, the milk
of a cow and seed of the various kinds of grain grown
in the country, and beg him to come to his village.
The grandson would then come accompanied by the
elders ; he would taste the meat, beer, milk, etc., and
ceremonially spit them out on the grandfather, and
this would relieve the old man of all danger from the

149

THE CURSE

kirume imposed by his other grandson. There is a
word kigao, which is intimately connected with kirume,
and is often confused with it, but inquiry seems to show
that kigao means the neglect of a dying father’s
wish with regard to the disposal of property, and the
result of kigao, is, therefore, kirume, cause and effect
being often very closely allied in the mind of a native.

The fear of kirume seems to be much greater in the
section of the tribe circumcised Kikuyu fashion, for a
prominent elder of the Masai guild stated that when
those circumcised Masai fashion succeed to their
father’s property they are invested with the brass
bracelet worn by elders on their right wrist, and upon
their mother’s death they wear the iron bracelet worn
by her. These are called kigao, and once an elder
has been invested with them he is quite safe from the
effect of any kirume from his parents. The younger
sons receive pieces of the ear ornaments, ichui, which
are made into finger rings and fulfil the same purposes
as the bracelets. This probably accounts for the
greater popularity of the Masai guild among the Kikuyu
people. At the same time the elder admitted that it
would be bad to squander the flocks and herds left
by his father, and that if they became depleted he
would probably sell a portion of the landed property
to make the flocks and herds up to their original
strength.

If a man hears that a near relative is very ill he
makes a point of going to see him, and takes the
precaution of getting him to spit ceremonially on his
hand and rub his visitor on the navel.

If a man goes to see his sick father or mother he
takes a piece of mutton fat, and the sick parent
ceremonially spits on it and the visitor rubs the piece
of fat covered with saliva on his navel.

A married woman can impose a kirume, but not on
an unmarried woman. The following is an example of
a case in which a married woman may invoke this
curse :

150 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

If a married woman has for a long time been
systematically ill-treated by a brutal husband she can,
when dying, put a kirume on her father for having
forced her to marry such a bad man, and also upon her
husband for his brutality.

The kirume is looked upon as the severest form of
thahu or nzahu known; in most cases of thahu the
subject rarely dies, because it is slow in its action and
the patient has an opportunity of making reparation
and seeking relief from the prescribed medicine man
or elders, but in the case of a kirume the curse is very
swift in its action, the patient rapidly sickens, breaks
out into ulcers and often dies before he can arrange to
take measures to arrest its onslaught; his live stock
will also die mysteriously.

It is believed that the effective power of the kirume
is derived from the spirit {ngoma) of the deceased
person by whom it is imposed, assisted by the ngoma
of the ancestors of the family.

It is said that there is no poison without its antidote,
and the same applies to the kirume, but the antidote
must be applied in good time and the only persons who
can effect a cure are certain persons called athuri ya
ukuu. The athuri ya ukuu compose a grade of elders
above that of athuri ya mburi nne (elders of four goats
— referring to the fee they pay for initiation to the
grade). They are always old men and rich, and have
to pay to their fellow elders of the grade a bullock and
a male sheep or goat as initiation fees.

While the athuri ya mburi nne form the ordinary
kiama, or council of elders, the athuri ya ukuu
constitute a native court of appeal, but they do not
admit appeals except in very important cases, when it
is within their competence to revise a judgment and,
if they consider fit, reduce the amount of compensation.
It is also the duty of the athuri ya ukuu to instruct the
heir in the customs of the tribe when he succeeds to
the property after his father’s death.

The athuri ya ukuu do not treat ordinary

THE CURSE 151

cases of thahu but have to be called in for cases of
kirume.

The ceremonial connected with the removal of a
kirume is as follows ; it is called ku-tahikia kirume in
Kikuyu, which means “ to purify from the kirume!'

The athuri ya ukuu are summoned to the patient’s
village, and the day before the ceremony the elders
catch a mole-like rodent called huku [Tachyoryctes
sp.), put it alive in a cooking pot with some sweet
potatoes, and cork up the mouth of the pot. The huku
must be caught near the patient’s village. Next
morning the athuri ya ukuu arrive with a medicine man
belonging to another clan and a male sheep is killed ;
the elders then take the huku out of the pot and make
passes all over the patient’s body with the live animal
and now take the huku and samples of various kinds
of native food, beads, etc., and proceed to the place
where the corpse of the person who imposed the kirume
has been buried or thrown out. Another sheep is taken
with this party and also a small cooking pot; upon
reaching the spot referred to the second sheep is killed
and some of its fat is cooked in the pot. They then
dig a hole and pour the fat in it, also milk, honey, beer,
etc. ; they smear the huku with the tatha, or stomach
contents of the sheep, and the medicine man ties a tiny
piece of meat to the right and left foreleg of the animal
with a string made of mugeri (hibiscus) fibre, then
fastening it up in a rough net made of the roots of the
ruriera plant, and cuts the face off the sacrificial sheep,
leaving the eyes intact, and places them all in the hole
saying, “ Go back to your burrow and take with you
the spirit of the person who left this curse.” The hole
is then filled in. The medicine man eats the
remainder of the meat and afterwards returns to the
village and purifies it.

The huku is said to personify the person who
imposed the kirume, and the eyes of the sheep are to
watch the huku and see that it does not return to the *
village. The huku is chosen because it lives below

152 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

ground, and the ngoma of deceased persons are
believed to live below ground.

After this ceremony the affected one is believed to
recover ; some say, however, that it only alleviates the
effect of a kirume, but does not remove it completely.
The elders stated that this would not affect a kirume
placed on a piece of land forbidding its sale, and what
may be called the kirume of entail could not be lifted.

The lustration from a kirume by the huku ceremony
only applies to the Kikuyu guild.

Altogether this is a very pretty example of what
Sir J. G. Frazer terms “ homceopathic magic.”

If a young woman has been abused or vilified
by the young men [anake) of her particular rika or
generation, it is a serious matter for her, but nothing
is done about it until the girl is about to be married.
The father, however, then takes a ram and makes a
feast for the anake of the same rika or circumcision
generation as his daughter, and they assemble and
ceremonially spit on the girl. She can then be safely
married and bear children. In fact, as a precaution,
this is generally done even if there is no record of a
quarrel between the girl and the young men of her rika.
A medicine man is called in, a ewe is slaughtered, and
he ceremonially purifies the girl before her marriage.

Ukamba. — As was mentioned before, the doctrine
of kirume or the dying curse is found among the
Kamba people and is there called kiume.

Elders, atumia, and young married men, anthele,
can impose a kiume among the A-Kamba but not
among the warrior class, anake.

A man is able to place a kiume upon the people of
a village to the effect that they shall not refuse food
or good treatment to a particular person, the friend
of the dying man; this friend may even belong to
another tribe.

A person cannot impose a kiume on anyone outside
his immediate family. A married woman can place a
kiume on her father’s village if she has reason to do so.

THE CURSE 153

An eldest son can place a kiume on a particular
thing in the village from which his mother came, a
common case of this being when a man places a kiume
on the people of his maternal grandfather’s village,
contingent on the disposal of a beast which was paid
by his father to his mother’s people as part of her
marriage price. The reason of this is that an eldest
son has a claim to a heifer, the progeny of the marriage
price paid by his father to his maternal grandfather
for his mother, and he can, when dying, will this beast
to any particular person, and if anyone prevents this
bequest being carried out he will die ; the kiume gener-
ally falls on the head of the village. The formula
used is : “ If you do not carry out this wish you will
not be able to eat meat, to drink water, to drink milk
to eat maize, to eat millet, and so on — and you will
surely die.”

As in Kikuyu, a dying elder in Ukamba can place
a kiume on a cultivated field, forbidding its sale out
of the family.

If a Mu-Kamba breaks a dying wish and incurs a
kiume, he can generally be freed from the conse-
quences if he goes to an elder of his father’s village
or to a near relative of his father and takes a bullock ;
the beast is killed and the elders spit water and milk
on his face — this saves him from the worse effects of
the kiume, viz., death. The ceremony is called
kuathimwa.

There is little doubt that much more remains to be
learnt about the ritual of kiume in Ukamba, but these
things are more difficult to work out in that district and
the details have to be dragged out bit by bit.

CHAPTER VIII

SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING CHILDREN AND WOMEN

Regarding the Birth of Children, etc. {Kikuyu). — In
former times, if a child was born feet first it was suffo-
cated and thrown out.

If a child touches the ground at the time of its birth
it is considered very unlucky. A ram, a mwati (young
ewe) or an arika (young female goat) is killed, and a
bracelet made of the skin is placed on the mother’s
wrist. This is done for the sake of the child. The
skin of the animal sacrificed is used for carrying the
child on its mother’s back.

It is again very unlucky when an infant cuts its
upper teeth first, but the child is not killed, and is merely
sent to its maternal grandmother. This only refers to
those belonging to the Kikuyu circumcision guild.
The child is termed kingu. To avert the ill luck, a
friend is asked to cohabit with the mother for a month,
after which the husband returns to his wife.

The birth of twins is a great misfortune either in
human beings or domestic animals, but only when it
occurs the first time a woman or animal bears.

It is believed that the father will die if he cohabits
again with the mother ; a case was cited of a man who
did so and was killed by a train a few days later.

Formerly twin infants were always suffocated, and
in such cases were thrown into the bush by the old
woman who assisted at the birth. This probably still
occurs in the remoter parts of Kikuyu, but the elders
stated that in the more civilised parts they are no longer
killed but are given to a member of the clan of the
father to rear.

154

CHILDREN AND WOMEN 155

In order to free the mother from the curse, the hus-
band hands her over to another man called a mundu
rohut, and when she has borne to him, her husband
takes her back. A ram has to be killed and the woman
adorned with a rnkwaru before she is taken back.

This only refers to those belonging to the Kikuyu
circumcision guild.

If a person, who is a twin, crosses a river, he or she
must stoop down and fill the mouth with water and,
facing downstream, spit it out into the river, saying,
according to their sex : “ May I not beget (or bear)
twins as my father (or mother) did.”

Anyone seeing this ceremony might well mistake it
for a propitiatory offering to a river spirit, and the error
indeed has occurred. The root idea, however, is that
the flowing water may carry away the kind of thahu
which results in such an unlucky tendency as that of
bearing twins. They can give no explanation as to
why twins should be of such ill omen if they happen to
be the first children of a married couple or of a domestic
animal. They do not appear to believe, as in some
countries, that twins have any influence over the
weather. If a woman bears twins a second time, one of
the children will be given to another man to bring up.

The Hon. C. Dundas made some inquiries on this
point in Kyambu district, and he states that in S.
Kikuyu the birth of twins is considered unlucky
excepting in the case of a woman who has borne other
children ; the younger the woman the more unlucky the
occurrence, and if the first birth is of twins, no medicine
man can remove the evil, and the only course is to throw
the twins into the bush or to give them to another man
of a different tribe or clan. In Kenya Province it is
said that twins are sold to other tribes, but in Kyambu
district the elders held this to be a bad custom. The
foster-father becomes sole owner of the twins and if
they are girls receives dowry for them. In such case
if the twins were the first birth of a woman, the father
can accept no part of the dowry, but if they were second

156 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

or subsequent births, he receives the whole dowry from
the foster-father and returns ten goats to him.

At Ngenda Mission, a twin was handed over to the
missionary, and the father agreed to give them the
customary ten goats out of the dowry when the child
should be married. No reason for this belief is known,
but the custom is rigorously followed to this day. No
one can sleep in the hut in which twins were born until
they are disposed of, and the mother must cohabit with
a stranger who is then called mwendia wa rohio or
mundu rokiu (man of the sword). ^

A short time ago a case of triplets occurred. The
mother had first borne one child, then twins, and finally
triplets. In this case only one of the triplets was given
away to a man of another clan, for, as the woman had
borne several times before, the triplets were not con-
sidered unlucky, and the giving away of the one was said
to be due solely to the mother’s inability to suckle ail
three.

On the birth of a child a sheep is killed and a strip
of the skin is worn on the mother’s wrist, rukwaru,
and her head is shaved ; the fat of the sheep is prepared
and given to the infant to eat, being put into its mouth
with the finger. This must be done before the child is
suckled, and the same ceremony, in respect to the
mother, is performed by the foster-mother in cases
where a twin or other child is handed over to a family
of another clan.

In every case where a child is handed over to foster-
parents it will belong to the clan of its foster-parents
and not to that of its real parents, but if the child is a
girl she can marry a man of the foster-father’s clan
provided he does not live close to the foster-father, while
marriage with a man of her real father’s clan is pro-
hibited to her.

* The frequent occurrence of sexual rites may appear repugnant
to Europeans, but students of the ancient world will readily admit
that there is an intimate connection between these rites and the
religious beliefs of people in a certain stage of culture. Many
examples could be quoted.

CHILDREN AND WOMEN 157

There is an undoubted widespread belief that the
only satisfactory way of dealing with twins is to suffocate
them, as they are unlucky. It is believed that the
practice of giving them away is a later adaptation to the
custom followed when a woman dies in child-birth, the
child, whether twin or not, being always, in this case,
given away to a man of another clan.

Among the Kamba of Ulu, the same general idea
as to the unluckiness of twins, if they are the first-born,
prevails. The twins, however, are not killed or put
away, but within a day or two of their birth the mother
is returned by her husband to her father and the
marriage price of the woman is paid back to him. If
the husband cohabits with the mother of the twins after
their birth it is believed that he or the children will die.
It is therefore quite clear that the curse or ill luck is only
immanent in the woman. Upon the birth of an ordinary
child a string made of the bark of the ithaa tree is
ceremonially tied round its neck, but this is not per-
mitted in the case of twins. After the mother of twins
has been returned to her father, she may be married to
another husband without the latter incurring the same
risks as the first husband, but the second husband must
be of the grade of an elder of council. It is an interest-
ing point, as a man, on reaching this grade, is not so
subject to the incidence of a curse as a young man. It
would therefore appear that the woman is still to some
extent dangerous. The second husband becomes the
adopted father of the twins and carries out the ithaa
ceremony mentioned above ; one of the twins must be
named Mbatha, the name of the other one being of no
significance. At the feast of the ithaa, he kills two
rams or two male goats, one for each twin. It is said
that twins are not killed at birth, as among the
Kikuyu, because the woman’s second husband would,
under native law, sue the father for the value of the
children.

As the twins grow up, each child must be treated
exactly alike ; if one has a present, the other must

158 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

receive the same. A wife must be found for each at
the same time, and the same marriage dowry must be
paid for each. In the case of boys, when sufficient live
stock has been paid over to the prospective father-
in-law to induce them to part with their daughters, both
brides must be brought to their husbands on the same
day. If one of the twins is a boy and the other a girl,
and the latter is being sought in marriage by a young
man, it is the custom for the brother to take his sister
to her lover’s village for a visit. They stay there two
days and return home on the third day, the girl being
given a goat by the young man.

The Kamba of Ulu do not believe that twins have
any influence on the rain or the weather generally. In
Kitui, as in Kikuyu, it is most unlucky for twins to be
born if they are the first children of the marriage. In
former times one was buried alive, but this cruel custom
has apparently died out. It is, however, still believed
that if they are girls and both live, the mother will die,
and if the twins are boys and they survive, the father
will die. It is supposed that the evil effect can be
mitigated to some extent if, three days after their birth,
the father cohabits with the mother; the parents also
kill a goat and are smeared with the tatka, or stomach
contents.

If a cow bears twin calves at first calving they are
invariably both killed.

As in Kikuyu, it is lucky for a child to be born
head first; it is unlucky to be born feet first, but the
infant is not killed. There is, however, a curious belief
that such a person must never step over anyone lying
on the ground, and if he forgets this prohibition, he
must at once step back over the recumbent person.
The stepping back is called njokela, “ to go back,”
and is supposed to reverse the ill luck which would be
transmitted.

In Kitui, if a cow bears a dead calf the children can
eat it but not a woman, as it is believed that the next
time she is pregnant she will have a still-born child.

CHILDREN AND WOMEN 159

Women are also not allowed to eat the meat of a beast
which dies.

If a cow bears a deformed calf it is buried, for if
it is allowed to live lung trouble is said to appear among
the cattle.

There is no particular taboo on crippled children,
but the people say that the infant is the reincarnation
of a deceased person similarly afflicted whom they
remember, and give it his or her name.

The Kamba of Kitui believe that the aiimu, or
spirits of the deceased, sometimes pray to the deity
{Engai) to give them another body, and if the request
is granted, a spirit will enter a new-born child and com-
mence another corporeal existence on earth. Their
reason for believing this is that a pregnant woman will
sometimes dream of a deceased person night after
night ; if she dreams of a certain man who is dead, and
then bears a son, they know it is that particular man
who has come back to earth, and the child will be given
his name. This is part of the same belief as that of the
spiritual husband, described in the author’s work on the
A-Kamba, page 39.

As in the Ulu district and Kikuyu it is considered
very unlucky for a child to be born feet first, and such
a child will have ill luck through life. If it is a male
child his wife, if he marries in late life, is sure to die,
and if it is a girl, her husband will die. In the latter
case, however, the evil can be averted if the prospective
husband, before he commences to pay for his bride,
sends her mother a present of an axe. If the woman
bears a child which is born feet first, it is essential that
the husband cohabit with her on the seventh day after
the birth.

Should a child in Kitui cut its upper incisor teeth
first it is considered a very bad sign. Such a child must
not partake of the firstfruits of the fields, and it is said
that, should it admire a growing crop, that crop will
never reach maturity. This evil influence, however,
can to a great extent be mitigated if, when the first of

160 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the child’s milk teeth drops out, the father cohabits with
the mother.

A child is taught that when one of his milk teeth
comes out he is to throw it between his legs and say,
“ May Engai give me a new tooth to replace the one
I have lost.”

The feeling against twin birth varies according to
the locality. In the more remote parts it is very strong,
but in parts of Ulu, the prejudice is dying out. The
father, however, will usually sacrifice to prevent evil
effects.

Taboos on Women. — When a pregnant woman is
near delivery, all arms are taken out of the hut, and
also any iron hoes. They are not brought back again
until the mother’s head has been shaved at the purifica-
tion ceremony after a birth. If these articles are left
in a hut on such an occasion and someone, for instance,
takes a hoe away and uses it, the child will, it is believed,
be afflicted with a ihabu. The food in the house at
the time of birth can only be eaten by the mother and
three old women who assist at the birth ; any infringe-
ment of this rule is a great danger to the newly born.
Even the father cannot eat in the hut for three or four
months, but if a man is poor and has only one wife, he
will sleep in the thengira, or goat hut, and if he has
no thengira, he will sleep in the hut on a separate bed.

A pregnant woman must not sew with a needle, as
it is said to be very dangerous for the new-born infant.

If at child-birth any blood falls on the floor of the
hut, the old women who assist at the birth dig up the
earth floor at that place and bury the soil in the bush
at some little distance from the village, for if a goat
licked that particular spot it would die.

If a man goes into his hut at a birth or after it has
taken place, and accidentally treads in blood which
may have dripped on the floor, the newly born child
will become sick, but the evil can be averted by the
cohabitation of the parents.

This fear of certain kinds of blood is very curious

CHILDREN AND WOMEN 161

and goes right back to ancient times. Among tliese
people a woman during her menstrual period may not
grind corn, but is allowed to cook sweet potatoes or
whole maize. She may not, however, milk the cattle,
nor may she cut potato tops as green fodder for the
goats.

A woman must also not step over her husband when
in this state or he will become ill, and to remove the
thahu a ewe lamb must be killed and both husband and
wife invested with bracelets made of the skin {rnkwaru).
A woman will tell her husband when she becomes ill,
and bathe when she is no longer so. Her husband can
then return to her.

A woman must not shave her hair while her husband
is on a journey; if she does so she will be accused of
bewitching him. She can, however, clip her hair a little
in front. This prohibition is said to be connected with
the customs by which a wife shaves her head on the
death of her husband, and were she to do so while he
is travelling, it might possibly bring him ill luck.

If a man goes away to hunt or to fight, and on his
way back, when he nears his village, is taken ill and
suffers from diarrhoea, he knows thereby that his wife
has been unfaithful to him during his absence. He
will thereupon call an elder and tell him to bring a ram
and the roots of certain medicinal plants : kindio, ihalu,
and mathengi. 'The throat of the ram is pierced and
the blood collected in a half gourd {nzeli) and mixed
with the crushed roots and the tatha, or stomach con-
tents, of the ram. The suspected woman is called out
and told to take hold of the right arm of the elder who
is holding the nzeli containing the mixture. She then
takes a handful of the decoction and throws it on the
ground, and the husband rubs his foot in it. The
remainder of the mixture is sprinkled all the way from
there to the door of the hut, as well as on the bed. She
is probably beaten by her husband, and her paramour is
summoned before the council of elders and fined a bull
or a ram.

L

*>

/*

/

I

5

PART II

MAGIC

i

,4

..f

‘■-4

INTRODUCTORY

In a study of the beliefs and practices of primitive
people it is difficult to draw the line between religion
and magic. The general view is that magic is anti-
social ; that is to say, that it grew up to satisfy the desire
of man to manipulate supernatural powers for his own
private benefit.

Robertson Smith expresses the position as follows:
“ The gods watched over a man’s civic life, etc., but
they were not sure helpers in any private need, and,
above all, would not help him in matters that were
against the interests of the community as a whole.
There was therefore a whole region of possible needs
and desires for which religion could and would do
nothing, and if supernatural help was sought in such
things it had to be sought through magical ceremonies
designed to purchase or constrain the favour of
demoniac powers with which the public religion had
nothing to do.”^

This line of argument is probably unassailable, but
in the people with whom we are dealing the belief in
demoniacal powers, as apart from the ancestral spirits,
has not reached a high pitch of development, and is
not at all concrete. They practise magic extensively
and have a firm belief in it, but it is difficult to say with
certainty exactly what powers they believe are being
influenced by the magical ceremonial.

The guild of smiths, both in Kikuyu and Ukamba,
possess hereditary magic powers; one clan of the
Kikuyu, called the Eithaga, is believed also to possess
similar powers. A leading elder in Kikuyu, for

’ “ Religion of Semites,” p. 264.

165

106 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

example, who is also the priest in charge of a sacred
tree, is said to have the power of destroying plagues of
caterpillars. Such a person, however, could scarcely
be considered anti-social, as the destruction of the
pest must benefit the crops of the whole community.
There is also the case of another elder who is
apparently a past master in the art of detecting
criminals, and more especially thieves ; this power
would, of course, only be exercised at the request of
the owner of the property, and incidentally to the
advantage of the magician.

The power of the “ evil eye ” probably belongs to
magic, although the power is regarded as an infliction
which a person unfortunately possesses at birth. It
is a very ancient belief, and has existed from the time
of the ancient Assyrians to the present day. It still
flourishes among the Semitic races, and also in
Morocco; all round the Mediterranean basin, in fact,
as well as in Arabia and Palestine, people wear armlets
or charms to protect them from this evil influence.

CHAPTER I

THE GUILD OF SMITHS IN KIKUYU AND UKAMBA

The information relating to Kikuyu smiths was mainly
collected from Kimani wa Nyaga, of the Gachiko clan,
who is one of the senior smiths in Southern Kikuyu.

A smith in Kikuyu is called muturi, plural aturi.

The smiths of the Kikuyu tribe are said to have all
come originally from a common centre of distribution
at Ithanga, on the south-western side of Mount Kenya.

This scattering of the smiths throughout the tribe
is stated to have occurred many generations ago, and
the name Ithanga to be that of their common ancestor,
but now the term Ithanga has become a synonym for
a sub-clan of the A-Gackiko, and not all the members
of this sub-clan are smiths.

It may be that the ancestor Ithanga was a migrant
from another tribe and the first person to bring into
the tribe the knowledge of working in iron. There
appears to be, however, no legend as to who invented
the act of smelting or working in iron ; it therefore looks
as if the craft were imported. It was certainly not
learnt from the Dorobo or Asi aboriginals, for the
Kikuyu declare that when their forefathers came into
the country, the Asi had no smiths, and to this day they
have none. It is believed that the ancestors of the
Dorobo were the people who made the stone imple-
ments now being so widely found.

The Masai, however, appear to have had amongst
them for a long period a clan of serfs called
El-Konono, who are their smiths.

In former times, the ancestors of the Kikuyu dug

167

168 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

out nodules of ironstone at Ithanga, and also collected
iron sand washed down by the rain from the hill. This
is probably the place described by Routledge, p. 8o
et seq., of his book. The ironstone was smelted with
charcoal made from the mutumaiyu tree {Olea chryso-
phylLa) and forged with charcoal from the mutarakwa
tree {Juniperus procerd).

The tools and apparatus used by smiths are
as follows :

Stone Anvil — Ihiga ya uturi (even to this day these
are brought from Ithanga, where hard meta-
morphic rocks occur.

H ammer — Kiriha.

Pincers — Muhato.

Bellows — Mima.

Wooden nozzles of bellows — N geruru (made of
mmumbu wood).

Clay tuyere — N gerrua.

Charcoal — Makar a.

Smith’s fire — Mwaki wa kiganda.

Smith’s hut (smithy) — Kiganda.

Pot used to contain water for quenching — Rugio
ya uturi.

In former times one section smelted the iron and
another forged it; imported iron wire is now so cheap
that most of the forgings are made from it.

If a man wishes to enter the guild, he has to be
initiated with some ceremony. He must bring a ram
(ndorume) which is slaughtered just outside the smithy;
the novice is then walked round the anvil. The heart
and lungs of the slaughtered animal are held in the
smith’s tongs and roasted in his fire, which is fanned
by the bellows; the novice eats them and the smith
sits on the anvil and anoints the forehead of the novice
with a spot of white earth {ira). The carcase of the
sacrifice is then split from neck to tail, the right half
being eaten by the smiths and the left half by the
villagers present.

THE GUILD OF SMITHS 169

The smiths and the jjillagers then go to the village
of the novice to drink beer, and next morning the smith
comes and forges an iron bracelet, which he places on
the right wrist of the would-be smith, and, if the smith
is married, one on the left wrist of his principal wife.
If he has more than one wife, one of his first tasks is to
forge bracelets for the others. The head of a smith’s
village wears a twisted iron bracelet on his right wrist,
the other smiths a plain iron band.

Birth does not confer membership of the guild ; the
son of a smith has to go through the same initiation
ceremonies before becoming a smith.

All smiths are believed to possess magical powers
which are alleged to come from the iron they use and
are carried on through the spirits of their ancestors
{ngoma). These powers are used in many ways; a
smith can inflict curses which are of the nature of thahu,
and they can bless the weapons they forge.

When a smith has forged a spear or sword he rubs
it with a piece of kianduri wood (Swahili msuaki, Bot.
Salvadora fersicd) and addresses the weapon thus :
“ If the owner of this meets with an enemy, may you go
straight and kill your adversary ; but if you are launched
at one who has no evil in his heart, may you miss him
and pass on either side without entering into his body.”
This incantation is believed to be a great charm.

After this ceremony the smith’s assistant polishes
the weapon with a quartzose stone called ngomongo ;
the assistant is paid for his work but is not usually a
smith. He is often merely the bellows boy, who is
called a mumguti.

Some customers bring their own iron and charcoal
and bargain for the manufacture of a sword or spear;
others buy a weapon which has been made at odd
moments and laid by for sale.

A smith will not make the sheath of a sword ; he
makes the wooden hilt, but the owner himself covers it
with raw hide and also makes the sheath.

One of the important functions of the smiths is to

170 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

make certain articles used in connection with the cir-
cumcision rites of the tribe. These are as follows ;

Ruenji — A razor which is especially made for the
circumcision rite.

Mukuha — A needle for piercing the ears of small
boys. When a boy is circumcised the elders
ceremonially pass this through the hole in the
novice’s ear.

N gunju — A small iron ornament placed in the ears
of boys and girls at the circumcision ceremony.

Kahiu kaithinja — A knife especially forged to kill
the sacrificial ram at the circumcision ceremony.

The head of the village where the rites are to take
place orders these articles from a leading smith before
the ceremony. When the smith delivers them he is
given some honey beer, and he ceremonially spits a
little of it on each of the things to free them from any
suspicion of containing bad magic.

When a smith marries, another smith is called in to
forge an iron bracelet, which is placed on the bride’s
left wrist. The husband then kills a ram, and the fat
and the tatha (stomach contents) of the animal are
boiled together in a pot, and the bracelet is dropped
into the mixture. This is supposed to free the bride
from any bad magic which some evilly disposed
ancestral spirit might bring upon her by means of the
bracelet.

The Kikuyu smiths state that they have no special
language or dialect peculiar to their guild. When
they die, they are buried or thrown out in the bush,
according to their grade, in the same way as other
members of the tribe, and no symbol of their trade is
buried with them.

Some smiths belong to the Masai circumcision
guild, others to the Kikuyu guild.

With regard to the magic powers of smiths referred
to above;

A smith can place a spell on a patch of forest to

THE GUILD OF SMITHS 171

prevent anyone from destroying it. He takes an iron
necklet or bracelet which belonged to a deceased
person, cuts it into small pieces, and walks round the
piece of forest which is to be protected. He then
deposits the pieces at the foot of a tree within the area,
and woe betide anyone who infringes the prohibition !
If at any time the spell is to be lifted, the smith pro-
ceeds to the area, sacrifices a ewe, removes the pieces
of bracelet, and smears the spot with tatha, or stomach
contents, of the sacrificial animal.

If sugar cane is stolen from a garden, or goats are
stolen out of a village by night, the owner often goes
to a smith and seeks his aid, taking with him the iron
necklet or bracelet of a deceased person. If the smith
agrees to intervene, he will heat this in his smithy fire
and then sever it with a chisel, saying, “ May the thief
be cut as I cut this iron.” Or he may take a sword or
an axe-head which he is making, heat it in his fire and
then quench it in water, saying, “ May the body of the
thief cool as this iron does,” i.e., “ May he die.”

Both of these curses are said to be equally effective,
and it is believed that the thief will gradually become
thin and fade away with a terrible cough. When he
becomes ill, however, he will usually confess his crime
and be brought to the smith or come to him to beg that
the curse may be lifted. He must bring a ram
(ndorume) with him, and the smith will then order him
to sit down outside the smithy and will march round him
with the ram. The ram is killed, and the heart and
lungs are extracted ; the'se parts are then roasted in the
smith’s fire and the patient eats them, and the curse is
lifted. The complete recovery, however, is said to take
about six weeks. A medicine man has no power over
a smith’s magic.

In former times smiths were sometimes supposed to
bewitch people against whom they had a grievance. A
smith would secretly take the necklet or bracelet of a
deceased person, cut it into pieces, and bury a piece at
the gate of the village he wished to bewitch ; the people

172 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

passing in and out all day would step on the spot where
the piece of iron was buried and thhs incur the evil
influence. Another piece would probably be buried at
the watering place. By these means the whole village
became afflicted, and unless the magic was removed
the people would die. The infliction of the magic,
in fact, would probably not be realised until seyeral
people had died. The evil magic has to be removed
by a smith and a medicine man; a ram and a young
ewe, which has not yet borne, mwati, are provided,
the ram is killed, and the usual purification ceremony
gone through, the ewe being set aside and taken by
the mundu mugo. After the evil magic has been
removed, the head of the afflicted village receives
from the smith a twisted iron bracelet {muthion).

Smiths place their old clay iu/^eres on sticks in culti-
vated fields to protect the crops from thieves ; there is
no ceremony connected with this, but if at any time these
must be removed, the smith removes them, carefully
placing a little tatha from the stomach of a sacrificial
sheep in the hole in which the stick was erected. This
removes the curse and also the possibility of the magic
damaging, at some future time, a person for whom it
was not intended.

When a smith forges a new hammer for use in his
forge, the medicine men of the district come and collect
the iron scale from the forging to mix with their
medicines, more particularly the medicines they make
to protect a village from thieves or wild beasts. The
medicine man {mundu mugo) marches round the village
with the medicine and then buries it at the gate. It is
called kihoko by the Kikuyu.

If anything is stolen from a smith’s forge he calls
together all the smiths of the country-side. This
assembly is called njama ya aturi. Each one in turn
is asked if he stole the article, and whether the culprit
confesses or not, they generally fix on one whom they
strongly suspect and insist on his taking the oath of the
goat {ku-ringa ihenge). If the culprit confesses he is

THE GUILD OF SMITHS 173

forgiven and warned, but if he refuses, he is cursed
by the bracelet of a dead person. Should he be guilty,
the spirit of that person will bewitch him to the peril of
his life. He cannot get the curse lifted until the njama
ya aturi reassembles and lifts it.

The ordinary Kikuyu native is far too afraid of the
magic of the smiths to steal anything from one of them,
so that when a smith is the victim of a theft it is easy
to guess that the crime has been committed by another
smith.

In the old days, the Anjiru clan, before starting
on a foray against the Masai, went to a smith and got
from him a small piece of iron called kiheto, for which
the representatives of the clan would pay a pot of honey
beer and one of sugar cane beer. The smith took a
little of the beer and spat it out on the kiheto. The
Anjiru then took away the kiheto, made medicine with
it, and buried it on the path at the entrance to the
enemy’s country. This was believed to stop the Masai
cattle from being driven off a long way.

Smiths were formerly called upon to settle cases.
If, for instance, a man was owed a debt, he would induce
some smiths to go to the village of the debtor and
order him to pay. And as the smiths were held in
fear because of this magic the order was generally
complied with.

The Eithaga clan has never counted any smiths
amongst its members. The magic of the smiths was
always feared by them. When this clan made spells to
withhold the rain it is said that they were careful not
to let the fields of a smith suffer.

If a medicine man visits the village of a smith he
does not sleep in one of his huts, but lodges in the goat
hut, thengira\ a smith does the same if he visits the
village of a medicine man. If a Mweithaga passes a
smithy when it is raining he cannot enter to take shelter.

A woman cannot enter a smithy unless she is a
smith’s wife, and she can then come to bring her
husband’s food.

174 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Smiths Among the Kamba of Kitui. — The original
smiths all belonged to one clan, viz., the Atui, which
is a section of the Anzunzu clan, but members of other
branches have now learnt the art and been admitted to
the brotherhood. In Machakos district some of the
smiths belong to the Eombi clan.

If a man wishes to become a smith he brews some
beer and takes it along with a goat to a local smith.
They drink the beer together ; the smith takes a sip
and then ceremonially squirts it over the hand of the
novice, saying, “ May your hands become skilful at the
work which I can do.” They then kill the goat and
mix some of its blood with some of the beer, and the
smith pours it over the anvil and addresses it as follows :
“ This man is now the same as I am, and I shall give
him a new anvil, and may this new anvil be his friend.”

The anvil is of stone, and when it is worn out the
smith searches for another suitable piece of some tough
rock, generally granite or gneiss, and instals it in the
forge. Before using it, however, he brews some beer
and pours it over the anvil, saying, “ You are now an
anvil, and you must be as good a one as your
predecessor.”

The cult of the smith does not appear to be as
highly developed in Ukamba as in Kikuyu, for his
powers are more limited ; he wears no mark of his trade,
and he does not dedicate the weapons he forges, as is
done by the Kikuyu smiths.

If, however, a man steals a smith’s stone anvil or
any tool from his smithy, the smith can curse him by
saying: “ So-and-so has stolen my anvil, and I curse
him, and if he eats this season’s food he will die,” and
it is firmly believed that the thief will die before the
harvest is reaped.

When a man goes to a smith to have an iron rod
forged for branding cattle, the smith will place it in the
purchaser’s hand when it is finished and say : “ May the
cattle branded with this iron be lucky, may they escape
disease, and may they be fruitful.” This tends to show

THE GUILD OF SMITHS 175

that the branding of cattle is believed to have a magical
value and is not solely intended as an identification
mark for the beasts belonging to each clan.

Iron has always played a great part in ancient magic,
and continues to do so in many parts of the world.
This is probably due to the fact that the art of extract-
ing the metal appeared so marvellous to early man that
it was attributed originally to magic. This idea was
very likely kept alive by the early iron smelters and
smiths. In early times, as at the present day, in cer-
tain parts of Africa the same persons smelted and
forged, and these men probably invested the process of
manufacture with an atmosphere of mystery and com-
bined into a guild pledged to keep the art a secret from
the uninitiated.

In connection with this subject, it is interesting
to note that some scientists lean to the opinion that the
manufacture of iron originated in Africa. Professor
Gregory comments on this problem in “ Geology of
To-day,” pp. 321-322 . Referring to the easier smelting
of iron than of bronze he says: “ Grains of iron oxide
are very widely distributed, and in arid areas attract
attention by their heaviness and metallic aspect. . . .
The preparation of iron by the negroes in Africa is a
far simpler process than the manufacture of bronze.
Bronze tools, however, are found in Europe earlier than
those of iron, but their earlier presence may be
explained by the readiness with which iron tools would
perish by rust. . . . This explanation is, however, not
satisfactory, for if iron had been present and removed,
the rust would have remained as a stain or as a cement.
Moreover, it is clear that in Western Europe the bronze
age immediately succeeded the stone age, for the early
bronze implements are copies of stone tools. The
conflict of metallurgical and archaeological argument
probably admits of a geographical explanation.

“ Grains of iron ore in sands and gravels are con-
spicuous in hot, arid climates such as tropical Africa,
and it is probable that iron working was invented there

176 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

before the bronze age in Europe. The inhabitants of
the moister climates of the Mediterranean and Europe
had no such easily found supply of iron.

“ Some conspicuous ores yielded tin and copper,
and an ingenious smith who had learnt iron working in
tropical Africa may have combined them, and obtained
bronze.”

This is one view. Professor Sir W. Ridgeway, on
the other hand, is, I believe, firmly convinced that the
secret of the working of iron in the Western world
originated in Central Europe, probably in the Hall-
stadt region, and there we must leave this problem.

CHAPTER II

THE EVIL EYE

This belief, so widespread in Europe, Morocco, and
many other parts of the world has never received much
attention from observers in this part of Africa, and it
was only recently realised that it received much
recognition in Kikuyu. It is called kita or kithamengo .

The word kita means saliva as well as evil eye.
The Swahili synonym is kijicho.

A few people here and there throughout the country
are believed to possess this gift, women as well as men,
irrespective of the guild to which they belong. The
possessor is born with it.

It gradually dawns upon the people that So-and-so
possesses the power, owing to the fact that if that
person audibly admires a beast belonging to a neigh-
bour the animal shortly after that becomes sick. If
this occurs several times the various owners compare
notes and it becomes generally known that So-and-so
is kithamengo.

It would therefore seem that the idea is not based
on an evil glance but upon an envious thought.

After that, if a cattle owner hears that a man who
has this power (or one ought, perhaps, to term it “ this
infliction ”) has been admiring one of his cows, he will
send for him and insist on his removing the evil ; this
is done by the man wetting his finger with saliva, and
touching the beast on the mouth and on various parts
of the body with his wetted finger; this is believed to
neutralise the enchantment.

Members of the Chera and Anjiru clans are notably

177 M

178 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

possessed of this power with considerable frequency ;
the Ambui and Aithiageni again very rarely possess it.
Even a medicine man cannot remove a curse imposed
by a person with the evil eye ; only the individual who
imposed it can remove it, and he can do it only in the
morning before he touches food.

Human beings and also inanimate objects are
equally affected by the power, for it is said that if a
person who possesses the evil eye admires a woman
who is enceinte she will abort, and if she is not, her
breasts will become highly inflamed, and he has to
come and ceremonially rub a little saliva on them to
remove the danger.

If an individual object is admired, say a spear, it
will soon afterwards be broken, or if, for instance,
the leather-covered sheath of a sword is admired it
will probably be gnawed by rats and spoilt.

No one who is not born with the power can acquire
it, and it appears to be looked upon as an unavoidable
misfortune. It is said to be the gift of God {Engai)y
and if a death or loss occurs the person to whom it is
attributable cannot be sued for compensation before
the kiama, or council of elders.

In time the people get to know who possesses the
power, and if such a person enters a village he is
asked in a friendly way to spit ceremonially on all the
children to prevent anything untoward occurring to
them owing to his visit. If a father possesses this
power he can render his children proof against its
action either from himself or any other person by
shutting his eyes and then ceremonially spitting into
each of their mouths.

The power is said to be hereditary, but all the
children are not born with the gift. This belief
exists among the Masai, and is called ^Ng-onyek oo'-l-
tunganak, and will probably be found to account for the
ceremonial spitting which was so common among them
when they wished to show their friendliness. Refer to
Hollis’s “ Masai,” page 315, the spitting on children is

THE EVIL EYE

179

undoubtedly done to show the parents that the stranger
is anxious to do the right thing and not afflict the child
by the power of the evil eye. Also vide Hollis’s
“ Nandi,” page 90, spitting is again believed to remove
the spell of the evil eye [sakutik).

In Ukamba, Mr Dundas states that it is called
kyeni \ there is said to be a whole clan in Kitui called
Mwanziu which possess the power, and it often happens
that when a person has received a slight injury he will
go to a member of this clan and ask him to spit on the
injured spot, which forthwith becomes whole. Possibly
he attributes his hurt to someone with the power of the
“ evil eye.” It is also said that possessors of this gift
have such power that if they admire a stone it will split
into fragments.

The evil eye is a belief of great antiquity, for it was
even recognised as far back as Mosaic times, cf.
Deut. xxviii. 54: “ His eye shall be evil towards his
brother and towards the wife of his bosom,” etc.

The Magic of the Eithaga. — It has occasionally
been incorrectly alleged that the power of the “evil
eye ” in Kikuyu is the monopoly of one clan called the
Eithaga or Aithaga, but such does not appear to be the
case. The members of the Eithaga clan are credited
with supernatural powers, but they are of quite a
different character, as will be seen below. The name
of the clan is Eithaga or Kiuru, a single member is
called Mweithaga. The name Kiuru is an opprobrious
nickname, which means “ those who bewitch people.”

The stronghold of the Eithaga is Karuri’s country
on the east slopes of the Nandarua Mountain, but it is
said that they originally came from Karira’s to the north
of the Saba Saba River. The present head of the clan
is one Kiriri near Karuri’s, and in South Kikuyu the
most prominent Mweithaga is Mkone wa Ndawa, and it
is said that the chief Kiriri has hair growing on the point
of his tongue. The clan is nearly entirely endogamous,
that is to say, a Mweithaga generally marries a
Mweithaga, and no man of another clan will marry a

180 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Mvveithaga woman, but a Mweithaga man may
occasionally find a mate from another clan. The
members of the Eithaga clan practically all belong to
the Kikuyu circumcision guild. They are, however,
divided into two divisions, A-Mbura and A-Kiuru, the
first meaning the “ rain-makers ” and the second the
“ wizards.”

The former profess to be able to make rain, but
their powers in this connection are not considered very
extensive, and the majority will only admit that if rain
is about, a Mu-Mbura may cause it to fall if it is the
proper season for rain. If rain comes on in a camp
where one has any Eithaga porters they will turn out,
wave branches and blow vigorously in the direction
from which the rain is coming, and, what is more,
firmly believe that they are having some effect on the
elements.

In connection with these rain-making powers, it is
curious to note that no Mweithaga may drink or cook
with rain-water that has been collected in a cooking
pot; if he does so he will surely die. Further, no
Mweithaga may carry embers of fire in a fragment of
crock from a cooking pot. He must either carry the
fire in some green leaves in his hand or get a firebrand.

We now come to the wizard branch of the clan.
Only the males have magical powers. It is said that a
Mweithaga will take an ox or Kudu horn and blow it,
and so doing will bewitch an enemy, saying, “ I blow
this horn and your heart will become like the wind I
blow through this horn,” meaning, it will disappear and
be lost. The person will then be bewitched, will cough
up phlegm, and eventually die unless he takes offerings
to the Mweithaga and beseeches him to remove the
spell. The proper thing is to take a ram and some
sugar cane, and if this is done the wizard is unable to
refuse, and will keep the sheep, cook some of the fat
and put it in his mouth with some of the juice from the
sugar cane. He will then squirt a little into the mouth
of the bewitched person, and will also put some into a

181

THE EVIL EYE

gourd for the patient to take back to his village and
give to his children. After this ceremony the patient
recovers, and, what is better, it is said that no
Mweithaga can again bewitch him in this way.

A Mweithaga, if he wishes to bewitch a village, will
go into the bush and find francolin eggs, and will
put these, together with the leaves of the mkurwe
(Albizzia) bush, on a fire and will say, “ As these eggs
burst and as these leaves shrivel up so shall this village
be destroyed,” and it is believed that evil will forthwith
fall on the people of that village, but only upon the
people, for the Eithaga do not harm live stock. Some
will put the francolin eggs with water in a cooking pot
on a fire and then break the pot and the eggs with one
of the hearth stones. The Eithaga rarely use herbs or
material substances in their magic, their spells being
done by invocation. No medicine man can remove a
spell imposed by a Mweithaga ; it can only be removed
by the one who imposed it or by another Mweithaga.
If, however, a mysterious sickness falls on a village a
mundu mugo, or medicine man, is called in, and he can
diagnose it and tell whether it is due to the magic
of Eithaga. A Mweithaga cannot bewitch another
Mweithaga, nor can he bewitch a person belonging to
another tribe such as Masai or Kamba.

Sometimes, however, they are of use, for they are
believed to have the power of bewitching unknown
thieves, and so it occasionally happens that a person
who has had, say, some goats or some sugar cane
stolen, will call in a Mweithaga and ask him to throw a
spell on the thief. He will come to the village and
take a piece of mud containing the spoor of one of the
stolen animals or one of the stems from which the sugar
cane has been cut, as the case may be, and he will say
“ A rokwa nguo,” “ I bewitch the thief.” The thief,
who is probably not far away, will hear people talking
of this, and being convinced of the effects of the magic
will hasten to return the stolen property to its owner.

The Mweithaga is then called again, and the owner

182 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

of the goats takes one and kills it, the Mweithaga cuts
out the stomach with part of the oesophagus, wets his
finger with saliva and touches the end of the oesophagus
with his wetted finger, and. then inflates the stomach by
blowing and makes passes with it over the body of the
thief, thus removing the spell. He finally fastens a
7ukwaru, or strip of the goat skin, on the thief’s wrist
and the thief has to pay a sheep to the Mweithaga as a
fee. If the theft is that of such a thing as sugar cane
the thief has to find the sacrificial goat and then be
purified as above described.

No Mweithaga may eat wild game, and in no case
can he even wear the skin of a wild beast ; the only
exceptions to this law are that they can eat locusts and
can make honey bags out of the skin of the ngtmu, a
small reddish antelope, probably a duiker.

For all their magical powers the Eithaga, like
other people, are subject to the incidence of thahu, and
are also subject to the power of the evil eye.

There is a kind of constitutional antipathy between
the Eithaga and the smiths of the tribe, and it is said
that there are no Eithaga smiths. A Mweithaga may
not sleep in a smith’s house or vice versa ; if this did
occur it is believed that illness or even death would
supervene. The evil spell can, however, be removed
by the owner of the house ; that is to say, if a smith
sleeps in the house of a Mweithaga, the Mweithaga
could remove the evil, and vice versa.

The Kikuyu are very afraid of the Eithaga, and in
former days after someone had been killed by their
black art the elders would induce one of them to come
and remove the spell from all the people of the village
where the man had died. They would then collect as
many of the members of the clan as they could find and
insist on their taking the oath known as ku-ringa
thenge, by which they would swear not to bewitch
any more of their neighbours. Sometimes, however,
they would turn out en masse and slaughter all the
Eithaga they could lay their hands on. It is said that

K'FKUYU ESCAKl’MENT.
DOEOIFO ELDER, TOROIM.

THE EVIL EYE 188

a Kikuyu would never enter the village of a Mweithaga
uninvited.

If a Mweithaga goes to a village and becomes
embroiled in a quarrel with a member of another tribe,
goats must be exchanged to make the peace, and the
Mweithaga must spit on the other party to obviate any
evil effects. The Mweithaga then invites the other
man to his village to drink beer with him, and will take
a sip from a horn of beer and eject it back into the horn,
the man then drinking the beer, after which he is
immune from the effects of any Eithaga magic.

The Eithaga are believed to have the power of
protecting forest, and their powers are sometimes
invoked for this purpose. If a man wishes to protect a
patch of forest on his property, he sends for a
Mweithaga to put a spell on it ; the magician proceeds
to the spot with the local elders and brings with him a
cooking pot taken from the deserted hut of a deceased
person. He fills this with water drawn from each
spring and stream in the piece of forest, and boils it on
a fire made on a path in the said forest; the pot is
supported on three stones. After this a little of the
water is poured back into each of the springs or streams,
and the pot is then shattered by dropping one of the
hearth stones on it. The magician then blows his horn
and announces that if anyone cuts the trees in the
forest his heart will burst forth like the blasts of the
horn.

CHAPTER III

KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS

Njau wa Kabocha. — There is, in S. Kikuyu, a curious
old medicine man named Njau wa Kabocha, belonging
to the Anjiru clan, who is held in great esteem on
account of his magical powers and his priestly
functions. He possesses a sacred tree, at which
sacrifices are believed to be very effectual. He is said
not to deal in bad magic, and one of his specialities is
the removal of a plague of caterpillars, ngunga, or
wireworms, vigun-yu, from the crops. He was good
enough to give a description of the procedure used to
effect this useful object.

The owner of the afflicted crops brings a ram,
ndorume, and some beer; the ram is strangled and the
lower intestine, muHira, is extracted; a number of
the caterpillars are also collected. The magician
drinks a draught of the beer and then bites the cater-
pillars in half, one after another, and lays the pieces
on the leaves of the mutundu {Croton macrostachys)
and mukuyu {Dombeya sp). He then places frag-
ments of the caterpillars in the intestine of the ram,
goes away into the bush and buries the parcel in the
hole of white ants’ nest {Muthongonind)} He next
takes some wood of the morika and muirangani trees
and lights a fire near the place where the caterpillars
are buried, and in this fire he burns the above-
mentioned leaves and the remaining caterpillars.

^ A Syrian superstition quoted in “ Religion of the Semites,”
p. 443, deals with a ceremony to rid gardens of caterpillars, and in
that, one of the insects is bewailed and buried and the caterpillars
then disappear.

184

KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS 185

The magician does not eat any of the meat of the
ram ; this is consumed by the owners of the fields and
the elders who have accompanied him.

A second ram is then provided, and the magician,
together with the village elders, goes and sacrifices this
at the nearest sacred fig tree ; the breast of the ram is
cut out and hung in the tree, and the remainder of the
sacrifice is eaten by the magician and the elders.
After this, the magician takes the ngorima (colon .^)
from the second ram, some beer, njoki, some unfer-
mented beer, ngogoyo, honey, beeswax, medicine, of
which he would not disclose the nature, and the horns
of the ram; these he burns in a fire, ichua, in the
afflicted field. The bones are all broken intentionally,
but the marrow is not extracted, as it is said that when
the fat and bones are burnt in the fire they make a smell
which is very acceptable to the deity Engai. The
fire is called ichua, the particular name for a fire lit at
a sacrifice — a sacred fire in fact.

This is the end of the ceremony, and the magician
then receives two or three miaii, ewes which have not
yet borne a kid. It was stated that after the ceremony
above described the caterpillars would disappear in a day
or two ; they would either be killed by heavy rain, eaten
by soldier ants, siafu, or the sun would dry them up.

On the day after the ceremony no person is allowed
to cultivate the fields, the men may not eat beef that
day or the next, and that night every man must observe
celibacy. He must not sleep in one of his ordinary
huts, but in the thengira, or goat hut, among the
unmarried men.

Njau wa Kabocha declares that he can, if he
wishes it, bring a plague of caterpillars upon any
section of people who treat him badly, and that he can
do this by pouring out some beer in his village and
praying to Engai. Within fourteen days, he alleges,
the caterpillars will begin to appear, but he admitted
that he could only do this about the normal season when
caterpillars are apt to come in swarms.

186 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

In the old days, when the Kikuyu used to fight the
Masai, Njau’s father, who was a great magician, was
a specialist at making medicine to enable his people
to check the Masai invasions, and when they came, to
ensure victory for the Kikuyu. The knowledge of
this art is said to have come down from his ancestors.

This magic is called mwita, and its most important
instrument is a kiheto, or small piece of iron obtained
from a smith. A small clay pot is made in which the
kiheto is placed and some medicine called njeku, and
this is brought to the path by which the Masai usually
came to attack. If this failed, Njau’s father would go
to an old woman of the Asi or Dorobo tribe, buy from
her an earthenware pot; this he would take, along
with a ram, and proceed secretly through the forest near
Ngong Mt., to a spot close to the Masai raiding track.
He would then kill the ram as if for a sacrifice, cook
the tail fat in the pot, then melt down some of the body
fat, taking care to pick out any pieces of flesh which
had accidentally been put into the pot. He would also
add some tatha from the stomach of the ram and some
sugar cane beer to the melted fat in the pot. He
would next seek out a straight and lofty tree and bury
the pot and its contents at the foot of it, being careful
that the mouth of the pot just showed above ground.
This is what the Swahilis call kafara, and it is believed
to stop a raiding party from passing that way. If,
however, they did succeed in passing, their raid would
be abortive and many would be killed. The power of
this magic is said to be derived from the deity Engai
and not from the spirits.

The medicine above referred to and called njeku
is stated to have been made from a piece of cloth or
an old discarded sandal secretly obtained from an
abandoned Masai kraal ; this is charred, ground up, and
then mixed with certain magic herbs.

Kamiri wa Itherero. — The Hon. C. Dundas has
furnished some interesting information with regard to
the magic powers of one Kamiri, who is the same

KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS 187

medicine man referred to in the curious incident
described in “ Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p. 143 et seq.

Close to Kyambu there lives a medicine man of
the name of Kamiri wa Itherero who is said to be one
of the most renowned of all Kikuyu. Like most
medicine men, Kamiri is possessed of more character
than most of his countrymen, and this is shown by his
manner and appearance to a far greater extent than is
usually the case among other natives. He is one of
the few members of the senior generation of Maina,
which in itself is a claim to veneration ; this means that
he has practically withdrawn from the council of elders,
and that he must be a man of considerable age. Yet
Kamiri looks younger and better preserved than many
an elder of the Mwangi generation. This may
possibly be due to his temperate habits, for it is said that
he has never in his life touched intoxicating liquors.
In height Kamiri is much below the average of his
tribe, but his remarkably clear features and the pene-
trating look of his eyes give him a dignified appearance.

For the European, Kamiri, on the whole, has no
liking, and he does not trouble to conceal this; in his
own mind he is clear on the point that we do very little
good and cause vast damage by upsetting all good
customs ; in particular the injurious effect of our
administration on the manners of women troubles him.
And this is not surprising, for Kamiri has suffered
much by our intrusion. In former times the success
of raids depended to a great extent on his advice and
aid, and this, coupled with his deep knowledge of the
art of medicine in general, had won him great respect,
and one can even say that he was held in awe. Kamiri,
in fact, was probably the principal man of the tribe and
the nearest approach to a chief that his countrymen
of that day could imagine. To-day he is a small
headman, but nevertheless enjoys no small standing,
as we shall show.

Missionaries designate Kamiri as the “ official
poisoner ” ; yet one missionary, who knows him better

188 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

than any other European, tells me that if Kamiri is
hired to poison a man he will first call that man and
tell him so and then he will inquire into the case and
endeavour to settle the quarrel, in which respect he is
usually successful. If Kamiri is a poisoner he is
essentially the “ official ” poisoner; he uses his art with
discretion and in legitimate causes. There is a great
difference between the medicine man of Kamiri’s type
and the average witch doctor of to-day; the medicine
man of the old school knows what he does, and dooms
a man perhaps as conscientiously as a judge when he
hangs a murderer.

Nothing which we or our influence could do has
broken his position as a medicine man ; even the para-
mount chief has a great respect for him, and he has
been seen to get up and give his place to Kamiri. It
is believed that no Kikuyu, however strongly supported
by the Government, would really dare to go against
Kamiri. A few years ago he demonstrated this power
by hanging up a bag of rupees in a tree by the pathway
and left it there for several months : no one dared to
tamper with it. Natives attribute marvellous powers to
him, and it is pretty certain that once he has detected
a criminal no Kikuyu has any doubt as to his guilt,
neither would they think that any man poisoned by him
had been unjustly dealt with. It is not very surprising
that this cunning medicine man, with his uncomfortable
supernatural powers and his science of detection,
should not enjoy great popularity, and that there
should be rather a feeling of distrust between him and
his people.

On one occasion Kamiri volunteered to detect a
case of theft of some cattle in which two men, A, a
herder, and B, a man remotely suspected, were in
custody on suspicion. As far as is known Kamiri knew
nothing about the case or the persons suspected.
Having set some boys to catch lizards, Kamiri placed
the two men before him and dabbed some white powder
on their noses and on the palms of their hands. The

KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS 189

same substance was streaked on one of the lizard’s
heads and he then waved the gourd containing this
medicine round the lizard and likewise round the
suspected man. He then asked B if he had committed
the theft, to which the man replied in the negative.
Kamiri then held the lizard to the man’s nose for some
minutes, but it made no signs. Next he repeated the
performance with A, and immediately on his denying
the charge the lizard caught hold of his nostrils with its
mouth. This it did several times. Kamiri was then
asked if the man was guilty. He replied that he was
not, because if he had been so, the lizard would have
held on and not let go, but he was also not innocent,
otherwise the lizard would have acted as with B, and
therefore he concluded that the man knew about the
theft and had probably abetted it. The charge was
never proved against this man, but it was almost certain
that he must have had some knowledge of the theft.
The natives had not the smallest doubt about it after
Kamiri’s decision, and were highly surprised that B
was not at once liberated.

A famous trick of Kamiri’s is to make a small sheep
grow large. The writer has not seen this, but was told
by a European that he had witnessed it and that he
made the sheep swell to an enormous size. One of
Kamiri’s feats is related with great satisfaction by the
natives. Kamiri once gave some medicine to a
European in order that he should win a race, and the
story goes that the medicine worked satisfactorily. So
now there is a profound belief that Kamiri’s medicine,
unlike most others, does not lose its potency with
Europeans.

Kamiri’s pupil is his son Kithege, who is said to be
almost as practised in the arts as his father, and he is
now generally sent in his father’s place when there is
any distance to go. Kithege was seen to perform the
same trick with the lizard in another case of theft.
This time the lizard hung on to the man’s nose and
remained so even when not held. The man was at

190 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

once pronounced to be the offender, and even admitted
himself that he had never heard of Kamiri making a
mistake before, although he denied having committed
the theft. On this occasion endeavours were made to
discover how the trick was done. It was certainly not
due to any pressure of the hand ; a trial was also made
with various colours, but with no effect. Seeing that
the writer was sceptical, Kithege, at his own sugges-
tion, picked out at random two men from the crowd
and tried it with them, but the lizard would not bite
either of them.

Finally the conclusion was come to that there must
be some connection between the breathing of the man
and the lizard’s action; possibly so long as the man
breathed freely, the lizard would not bite, but when he
held his breath or breathed strongly, after holding it
for a time, the lizard, for some reason, hung to his nose.

The idea that a reptile will fasten on to a criminal
has its parallel in the New Testament, vide Acts xxviii.
3-6 : “ And when the barbarians saw the venomous
beast hang on to his hand they said among themselves.
No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he
escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.”
Possibly there is an idea that the reptile is really a spirit
which has temporarily assumed this form.

It is considered impossible that a medicine man
should maintain a real standing and the absolute faith
of the people by mere trickery. Still less is it likely
that a charlatan would have so much self-confidence as
Kamiri, and therefore one is driven to the conclusion
that a man such as Kamiri must repeatedly have proved
himself to be right in his detection. The most
successful practices in this respect will always be such
as work automatically, and the more one sees of noted
medicine men the more one inclines to the idea that
many of their powers are neither trickery nor mystery,
but are simply due to the nervousness or to the mental
effect upon the victim or patient.

Kithege was asked if he had any other ways of

KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS 191

proving the man’s innocence or guilt, and he immedi-
ately expressed his readiness to try another test.
Asked what he would do, he announced his intention of
taking the man’s eye out, and on being stopped he
volunteered to put a venomous snake round the man’s
neck. Unfortunately both of these experiments
entailed more risk than the confidence of the observer
would permit, although the suspected man seemed to
have no apprehensions as to the danger he was running.

CHAPTER IV

MISCELLANEOUS MAGICAL PRACTICES

Rain Magic {Ukamba). — The Kamba have no medi-
cine men who specialise in rain-making, and in times of
drought they pray and sacrifice at the ithembo, or local
shrine, in the manner already described. Some people,
however, pretend that by means of a certain medicine
they can make rain pass by and not fall at a particular
place. The ingredients of this are kept very secret
and are only known to a few people. It is a black
powder and is placed in the palm of the hand and blown
in the direction of the rain storm. Some is also placed
in the horn of an antelope and stuck in a tree. It is
addressed as follows: “ You are now a man and are
placed here to keep the rain away ; if you fail you stay
out here in the rain and I will not take you back into
the house, but throw you away into the bush.”

Presumably the concept is that by these means a
human, or perhaps anthropomorphic spirit, having the
power of averting rain, is bottled up in the horn by the
potent medicine, or it may be that the spirit is supposed
to be in the medicine itself. It is a pity we do not
know what the medicine is composed of, as the
reasoning might be the easier to follow.

Burglar s Magic. — In the author’s “ Ethnology of
A-Kamba ” an example of this in connection with the
Machakos district was given — p. 95. The same kind
of thing is evidently practised in Kitui, where it is said
that a thief will sometimes obtain medicine from a
magician and rub it on a stone. He then goes to a
village at night and throws it on to the thatch of a hut.

192

MAGICAL PRACTICES 193

It is stated that he then probably waits till he hears the
people say: “ Let us sleep.” He presently enters the
hut and goes to the owner and says : “ I have come for
a cow which I am going to take away.” The owner is
apparently hypnotised and unable to refuse, for he
answers: “Take such and such a one,” and the people
go on sleeping till late the next morning. A neighbour
calls at the village early next day, and is surprised to
find the door of the hut and of the cattle kraal open,
one or two cattle missing, and the people still asleep.

Women often fashion little clay images of men and
hang them up in their gardens to frighten youngsters
who go there to pilfer the crops ; the children believe
that if they take anything they will be stricken with a
thabu. The elders, however, declare that such charms
are only a sham, as the women do not really wish to
harm the children, but only to scare them.

Hunter’s Magic.— \{ a Kamba hunter shoots a very
fat beast he must not take snuff while he is skinning it
or he will be seized with diarrhoea.

Elephant hunters often carry a medicine called
ngatho, of which a little is placed on each arrow before
it is shot at an elephant ; it is carried in a hollow reed
in the hunter’s quiver. The hunter must not eat or
touch mutton before he returns from hunting or this
medicine will prove ineffective. The medicine man
who concocts the medicine places it in the quiver of
the hunter with his own hands, and the quiver must
not be opened till the hunter is in the presence of the
elephants. Hunters often carry another medicine
called “ nzebi’’ which, if blown in the direction of
game, prevents ft from seeing the hunter.

In Kitui, if a man has made his preparations to go
on a hunting expedition, he must not cohabit with his
wife the night before he starts.

If there is a new-comer in a hunting party and an
elephant is killed, the leader of the party will cut off the
trunk and breasts of the beast before the new-comer
comes up, and hide them in the bush. It is said that if

N

194 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

this is not done the new-comer might joke about the
peculiar appearance of these parts and in so doing turn
their luck so that no other elephant would be killed.
The elephant spirit would evidently be annoyed.

An officer, some time ago, shot an elephant in
Kitui, and two of the natives who accompanied him
came up and asked if they might perform their cere-
mony, the object of which was to bring him much luck
and good sport. He agreed, and a goat was killed
and some of the blood collected ; one of the men tasted
a little of the blood, and then each of them took a little
in his mouth and ejected a few drops on the tusks of
the dead elephant, the remainder being poured out as
a libation.

The leader or leaders of the hunting party who are
termed A-thiani in Ukamba and Tha-mati in Kikuyu
can alone eat the trunk of an elephant.

When the hunting party returns it is the duty of
the leader to sacrifice an ox and brew some beer ; the
blood of the ox and the beer are mixed and poured out
in the village as a libation of thanksgiving.

The same ceremony is observed after the sale of
the ivory.

A man who organises successful hunts, or proves
himself a good leader of caravans to the coast, obtains
great honour among his people.

Charms. — The Kikuyu people sometimes place a
human skull in a tree in a garden to prevent people
from stealing ; it is not quite certain whether this is
believed to have any magic power. They also place
the clay tuyeres from a smith’s furnace in trees to
protect gardens ; in this case they are probably trading
on the dreaded magic powers of the smiths.

The horns of the first ox presented to a man by the
father or his son-in-law are not thrown away, but placed
on the roof of the hut of his principal wife. The
significance of this is not very clear ; it may be done
merely to commemorate the event, but in these matters
it is never safe to jump to conclusions.

MAGICAL PRACTICES 195

The following observation in Kikuyu may be
classed among magical procedure. A man was sued
for return of some cattle which he was obliged to return.
On doing so, he pulled out a few hairs from the animals’
tails. It appears that when certain medicine is made in
the village the owner has only to pull out a few tail hairs
from a beast and it will always return to his village.

Occasionally in a Kikuyu village the vertebra of an
ox may be seen transfixed on the stick which surmounts
a grain hut. This is a charm to keep butterflies away
from the village, as it is believed that these insects carry
sickness to the goats and sheep.

Fear of old Women. — Old women in Kikuyu are
much feared, particularly those who are blind, toothless,
and decrepit ; they are often believed to possess magic
power. When meeting them, it is safer to pass by or
to speak to them pleasantly. If they are annoyed they
may bring all sorts of ill luck. Being bothered one
day by a number of very old women. Chief Marraro
and his elders were asked to send them away, but were
afraid to tell them to go, and even many of the police
dared not talk to them.

Knots, etc. — When a Kikuyu warrior goes to war
he ties knots in the grass on the way, so that he may
find his enemy sleepy. Or again, if he is going to visit
anyone he does the same in order that he may find his
friend at home.

If a man is at war, it is bad for the wife to make
string for a food bag [chondo) ; it is probably believed
that the twisting of string would have the same
deleterious effect as the tying of a knot is supposed to
have on certain occasions. Further, the wife must not
sweep out the hut while her husband is away with a war
party.

A zebra was shot by the writer some time ago in
Kitui, and when the meat was brought to camp a
Kamba was observed to tie a knot in the hair of the
tail; the reason given for this was that zebras being
rather subject to diarrhoea, it was a good thing to tie a

196 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

knot in the tail, as the persons who eat the meat would
then not be likely to suffer from this complaint.

In Kitui, also, if two men are starting on a cattle
trading expedition and one gets ahead of the other the
one who is delayed plants a stick in the ground and ties
grass to it, this being supposed to delay the first man,
and, the other passing him, will then be able to sell his
cattle first and therefore at a better price.

War Medicine {Kikuyu). — Before a young warrior
departs on an expedition, the father goes to a medicine
man and obtains some medicine called njeku and
smears it on his son’s shield, the object of this being to
protect him from the weapons of his enemies. It is said
that sometimes the medicine man, out of spite, supplies
bad medicine and the warrior will then be killed. This
alternative is no doubt the explanation of casualties,
and it would be interesting to know how the medicine
man defends himself from the accusation of having
supplied the wrong medicine.

If a man collects the saliva of an enemy and takes
it away to a medicine man {murogi) who makes suitable
medicine of it, the owner becomes afflicted with a bad
throat.

A wife must not sleep away from her village while
her husband is on a journey, nor bring a male friend to
the village ; she may shave her head in his absence,
although this is barred among some tribes.

Magical Remedies for Sterility. — Among the
A-Kamba of Ulu there are various remedies for
barrenness in women. The husband consults a
medicine man, who casts lots, “ figa mbau” to find out
which of the various remedies must be adopted. When
the proper kind of remedy has been discovered, the
husband takes his wife to the discoverer of the remedy
{ngnondu), who administers it.

Various remedies are in vogue, viz:

(i) A piece of the trunk of the mumo tree is cut out
and bound in the woman’s bead loin band.

MAGICAL PRACTICES 197

(2) One of the yellow fruits of a common wild weed
is bound in the loin band. It is called baringo, and is
probably a Solanum.

(3) A goat is led round the woman seven times, and
the aiimu are promised a goat is she proves fertile.

(4) A goat or fowl is killed. Its blood is poured
on the woman’s head till it trickles down her back and
breast. She is thus supposed to derive new blood.

(5) The leather tails of her loin cloth are knotted.

Medicine is also made from the following :

(1) Two twigs of the mukengesia tree.

(2) One twig of the musmnsuyia tree.

A branch of mulali tree sufficiently long to go round
the woman’s waist is then cut.

The woman’s loin skin apron is cut into two pieces,
and a knot is tied in one of them.

The mulali branch is then passed round her waist
and tied into a knot.

The twigs i and 2 are then placed to the woman’s
lips, and she bites some of them and spits out the
pieces three times. Part of this is taken and thrown on
a main road for passers-by to tread on. The rest is
taken by the husband, who walks in front of the woman,
dropping it for her to tread on as far as the village.
Water in a nzele, or half gourd, is then drawn by the
husband, and all the men and women of the village
rinse their hands in it. A goat, given by the husband,
is made to drink the water in the nzele ; it is then
killed, and the chest is taken and eaten by husband and
wife. The husband does not cohabit with his wife till
the second night after the ceremony.

Among the Kikuyu if a married woman does not
prove fertile a medicine man takes her to a mukeo,
mukenyia^ or muthakwa tree, and there suffocates a
mwati (a young ewe which has not yet borne a kid) ;
the elders of the husband’s clan take the small
intestine of the mwati and twine it around the woman

198 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

and the tree, the intestine being then cut through with
a sharp splinter of wood. The ceremony concludes
with the anointing of the woman on the forehead with
castor oil, and some fat frorn the carcase of the mwaii
is melted and poured out at the foot of the tree.

It was impossible to discover the exact significance
of this ceremony ; it may be a form of so-called tree
marriage, a ceremony by which presumably the fertility
of the tree can be given to the woman.

Inoculation Against Snake Bites. — Although these
observations are classified under the heading of magic,
it is not at all clear whether the procedure adopted is
based on the knowledge of prophylactic or antiseptic
drugs. The subject is worthy of professional investi-
gation by a trained pathologist.

The author is indebted to Mr G. H. Osborne for
the description of the process of inoculation for snake
bites which took place in his presence at Machakos in
Ukamba.

The practitioner was a young man of some twenty-
five years of age, Waita wa Mathendu by name ; the
patient a boy of about sixteen, called Kaboyi wa
Kimoino — both natives of the Iveti Hills. At the
writer’s request the native doctor brought specimens
of the medicinal plants. They consisted of :

(1) A branch of a shrub called musobi (Kikamba).
This has a leaf measuring about two inches in length,
bright green on the top and a lighter shade below ; the
edges are serrated but not sharp, and the whole leaf has
a velvety feel to the touch. It bears a fruit which is
red when ripe and which is eaten by the A-Kamba. It
is also used as medicine for colds in the head.

(2) Two branches of a shrub called mthingii. The
leaves appear to grow on a single stem, and are
composed of some six petals on either side of the leaf
stem. The leaf, full grown, measures about one and a
half inches by three quarters. In the case of the first,
a piece of the stem as it stands in the ground is lightly

MAGICAL PRACTICES 199

scraped three times with a knife. In the case of the
second, grains of nitama grain are thrown three times
to strike the bush.

Both are then completely dug up by the roots, and
the two roots, the stems and leaves, are put on the
fire without water and dried completely. These are
the vegetable ingredients of the medicine.

The animal ingredients are :

(i) The heads of various kinds of snakes. When
a medicine man captures a snake he takes it by the neck
in his right hand and passes its tail three times around
and behind his waist with the left hand, like a belt, the
third time passing its head to his left hand, which is
grasping the tail, and then clasping neck and tail in
the left hand and holding it out from his body. He
makes three gashes with a knife on the back of the
snake’s head, just above the neck, at the same time
making a gash in the back of his left hand, which is
holding the snake’s head and tail. He then takes
some of the blood from the gash on the back of his
hand and smears it with his knife point in each of the
gashes in the snake’s neck. The snake dies after the
man’s blood has been smeared on the gashes, and its
head is then severed below the gashes and put into the
nzele with the vegetable ingredients. These are then
pounded up till the mixture becomes a pitch-like
substance. It is put back on the fire until thoroughly
dried, when it is ground up into a powder varying from
dark grey to black in colour.

The medicine is now ready for use and is placed in
its several receptacles. The vegetable ingredients are
always the same, but as each kind of snake is treated,
each vessel holds a different kind of medicine. On this
occasion the doctor had only three snakes fastened up
in a gourd with air holes bored into it. Before
explaining the initial process he took them out and put
the first round his neck and the second on his lap,

200 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

where it iay diversifying its position by coiling round
his arm.

The snakes brought for inspection were :

(1) Ndau (female). — About eighteen inches long,
dark green on the back and light green underneath. It
both spits and bites, and lives mostly in trees. Its
darts are very rapid.

(2) SyomeluLe (female). — A dark grey colour on
the back and light grey to light yellow below; the
pattern appeared to be almost in squares. It was about
two feet long and had not digested a mouse which had
got half-way down. It is said to be a tree snake ; it
both spits and strikes, and after striking sticks on to the
bitten part.

(3) Kiko (male). — Marked like a puff adder, black,
with a broad flat head. Unfortunately this one had
had a slight difference with the second snake, which had
struck and killed it on the way to the station. It was
in the bottom of the gourd and was not visible. It is said
to lie on the road, shamming death, and rearing sud-
denly, to strike at the thigh. The larger ones also spit,
and are especially dangerous to people drawing water.

There were in all seven small gourds of powder,
each containing a mixture of the vegetable ingredient
and a different kind of snake. In addition to the three
snakes above mentioned the gourds contained the
powder made from four other kinds of snakes:

(4) Nguluku. — Said to be a small, reddish, whip-
like snake of which larger specimens have also been
found living near streams ; their bite is very deadly.

(5) Kimbuba (Swahili Bafu). — Puff adder.

(6) Kisilu. — A very black snake seldom leaving its
hole in the daytime.

(7) Yaitha. — A tree snake which is very fond of
taking up its residence in large birds’ nests. It darts
down on the passer-by from a tree, strikes the head,
and then retires again to the tree. In 1907, one of
them lived in a tree on the road to Mumoni, not far

MAGICAL PRACTICES 201

from Gai, and killed two people in a short time. The
District Commissioner was asked to kill it, but two
Kamba went out together and one of them killed it as
it tried to strike the other. This is probably a Den-
draspis. The doctor takes the skin of the patient’s
upper palm, just below the knuckle of the finger and
thumb, and cuts three small gashes in the skin. He
does this just above the upper wrist bone and upper
elbow joint on the outside. The tongue is also slightly
gashed in places till blood is drawn.

The writer only saw these particular places cut, as
there was not sufficient time, but anyone undergoing the
full treatment would be cut on the top of the foot, just
above the toes, on the upper thigh, the buttock, and the
shoulder, the process being repeated on the other side
of the body.

The practitioner then pours into the palm of his
left hand a little of each powder — seven kinds in this
case. With the first finger of the right hand he puts
the mixed powder on to each of the three gashes, then
spits on the places and rubs the powder into the gashes
with the second finger of his right hand. The remain-
ing portion in the palm of the left hand is licked three
times off the palm by the patient’s gashed tongue.
The doctor then carefully wipes his hands, and, the
operation being over, the powder is allowed to dry into
the gashes.

To show the writer the efficacy of his medicine he
took out the Syomelule snake and put it on to the
finger of the patient, the mouth being closed over the
first finger just below the nail, where it hung for several
seconds. Then he took it off and returned it to its
receptacle. One fang — the upper one — had drawn
blood in the finger. He then took a knife and scraped
the place of the bite on the upper and lower side of the
finger. He said this was to scrape off the fangs of the
snake. No blood was drawn on the under side of the
finger. The patient said that the snake, when hanging

202 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

to his finger, did not hurt him, but that he merely felt
as if his finger was being tightly pinched. Both the
doctors and the writer’s boy who were present declared
that instant death was the usual result of a bite by such
a snake.

The result of the treatment is that a person can seize
hold of any snake and, by making a circle round its
head three times with the first finger of the right hand,
render it innocuous. If a person sees a snake enter a
clump of grass, he walks three times round the clump,
and at the place where the snake has entered puts his
hand in till he catches it by the tail. He pulls it out,
and the snake strikes back. He allows it to strike his
hand three times, and then seizes it by the head or neck
and lets go the tail. He then makes three circular
passes round its head with the first finger of the right
hand and the snake can no longer hurt anyone unless a
person forcibly puts his fingers into its mouth. It can
be carried about or worn with impunity.

If a person who is immune spits and strikes a snake
with the spittle, the snake becomes sick and dies at
once. The patient was at the writer’s house for quite
an hour after the operation. He still had the other
side of the body to be operated upon. He showed no
signs of swelling or illness.

The usual price for divulging the identity of the
plants and the method of concoction to a fellow tribes-
man is a cow and a bull. For this reason the doctor
brought the twigs tied up in a piece of cloth, so that
their nature was not apparent to a passer-by.

This inoculation may be a system of immunisation
or it may be that the snakes produced for the operation
had had their poisonous fangs extracted. Its efficacy
is, however, implicitly believed in by the Kamba people
of these parts, and no one who has been inoculated is
known to have died from the bite.

It must be noted that a certain amount of formality is
observed, there being a favourite number for the magic
“ passes ” and for the gashes made for inoculation.

MAGICAL PRACTICES 203

Another observer writing from Kikuyu states that
while standing at a particular place with some elders a
snake was seen in the long grass. One man com-
menced to feel about in the grass for the snake, and
when another man struck at it, he picked it up alive.
He seemed to have absolutely no fear of snakes, and
explained that he had medicine for their bites — not to
prevent bites, but to neutralise the poison. Later, he
was further cross-examined and denied that he had this
medicine.

The author also saw in Kitui a man who professed
to have no fear of snake bites. This man one day
walked into Kitui Station carrying a big puff adder
{Bills arietans) in his hand ; he was not holding it by
the neck, but was gripping it about eighteen inches
below its head. He had heard that snakes were wanted
for a collection, and had come to sell it. After the puff
adder had been safely disposed of, he pointed out two
deep scratches, not punctures, bleeding freely, at the
base of his thumb and produced a black powder, some
of which he rubbed on the wounds and some of which
he placed on his tongue and swallowed. The wounds
were inflicted by the adder. This man accompanied
the writer for a ten days’ journey, and during that time
caught various live snakes. His general procedure
was to lie down and put his arm into the recesses of
a white ant nest which is a very favourite shelter for
snakes during the heat of the day; he would feel
about and sometimes extract a snake. The idea of
feeling about in a dark hole in a district where cobras,
puff adders, and other poisonous snakes are common,
made one shudder. But nothing untoward happened,
and he suffered no ill effects from his scratches by the
puff adder’s fangs. He w’as asked what the black
powder was made of, and produced about six plants,
the roots of which, when dried, charred and ground up,
were said to constitute the antidote. It was, however,
not possible at the time to identify the plants.

PART III

MISCELLANEOUS

INTRODUCTORY

In this section a variety of matters, many of which have
a bearing on the beliefs of the people, but which cannot
be legitimately placed under either Religion or Magic,
are dealt with.

The section dealing with the constitution of the
people shows how the council of elders grades into the
primitive priesthood.

A chapter on Kikuyu dances is included, and for
this the author has to thank the Hon. C. Dundas.
Many of these dances take place either at planting time
or near the harvest, and also at marriages, and
undoubtedly come under the class of fertility cere-
monies. They may thus be considered to come under
the heading of either Religion or Magic, although it
is not always possible to say to which they belong.

A chapter has been added on the position of women
in tribal organisation, and this subject is particularly
recommended to future investigators.

207

CHAPTER I

THE CONSTITUTION AND WORKING OF COUNCILS AMONG

THE KIKUYU

According to the natural organisation of the Kikuyu
tribe every youth, as he grows up, gradually passes
through the various grades of tribal life. He com-
mences as a kihe, an uncircumcised boy, and after cir-
cumcision becomes a mwanake, and finally a muthuri.
He has to be initiated, step by step, into each grade
according to the ritual of the tribe, and payment has to
be made for entry into each stage. The procedure and
rites with regard to circumcision have been dealt with
elsewhere, and we now have to consider entry into the
higher grades.

When a father considers that his son is old enough,
he agrees to his marriage, and after marriage, when he is
the father of a child, he becomes eligible for eldership.
When the father thinks the time has come, he provides
the son with a goat to present to the council of elders
for his initiation into the grade.

The elders cannot refuse to admit him to the lowest
grade, and at their next meeting the initiation takes
place. The goat is first strangled, and a knife is then
driven into its chest and the blood collected in a pot.
The senior elders take a sip of the blood, and the
candidate also drinks a little.

The following portions of the carcase are then set
apart, viz., the ribs, a piece of the meat of a leg called
ruhongi, a piece of the small intestine, one of the small
stomach, ngonma, and one of liver.

Two athamaki, or full elders of council, take these

209 o

210 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

portions and roast them before a fire ; they are then
brought to the hut of the candidate and handed over to
his wife, or, if he has more than one, to the senior wife,
who places them on a kind of shelf, called thegi, near the
bed, and they are afterwards eaten by the man. The
wife then gives the elders a half gourd, njeLi, of gruel
and a portion of cooked pigeon pea, njahe. The elders
eat a little of this and the remainder is given to the
candidate.

This ceremonial meal appears to be in the nature of
an oath. The man is then called a muthuri ya mburi
imwe, viz., an elder of one goat.

A little later on he presents another goat to the
elders and becomes an elder of two goats, muthuri ya
mburi igiri; and then again, he presents a third goat
and becomes an elder of three goats, muthuri ya imburi
itatu. No particular ceremony attends the presenting
of the second or third goats.

After a due time has elapsed the man can apply to
the senior council to be admitted to that body. As a
rule his entry is not refused, but it is said that he cannot
demand admittance to this grade without the approval
of its elders. He pays a fourth goat as entrance fee,
and the same ceremony as for the lower grade elder of
one goat is gone through. He then has to pay a fine
thenge, or male goat, which counts as two ordinary
goats, whereupon the elders reveal to him the secret
matters of their grade and instruct him in the procedure
of the council. They also invest him with his staff of
office, the mithegi, and hand him the bunch of sacred
leaves, mutathia {Clausena anisata and also Clausena
inaequalis), and he is then a fully fledged elder of
council and is called muthuri ya imburi nne or ithano,
elder of four or five goats, as the case may be, and is
entitled to be called muthamaki, which may be trans-
lated as magistrate or judge, or one who is entitled to
try cases.

Ordinary elders are allowed to carry a bunch of
leaves of mutathia {Clausena inaequalis ^ also C.

WORKING OF COUNCILS 211

anisatd), but until they become ukuru, they cannot
carry the leaves of muturanguru (V ernonia sp.).

It is now necessary to consider the functions of
the various grades. There are two councils, or kiainas:
kiama cha kamatimo and kiama cha athamaki. The
council whose legal powers are recognised by Govern-
ment is the kiama cha athamaki.

The following table shows how these councils are
composed :

Name of Councils Composed of

Kiama cha kamatimo Athuri cha imburi imwe

igiri

M tf II itatu

Kiama cha athamaki „ „ ,, nne

,, ,, ithano

Athuri ya ukuru.

The members of the kiama cha kamatimo have no
judicial power; they attend at a meeting of the council
but do not sit with the athamaki ; they are grouped at
some little distance, the word, in fact, meaning those
who sit away. This body generally correspond to the
kisuka of the A-Kamba.

The kiama cha athamaki actually means those who
adjudicate or settle cases. The term athuri ya
kiama, elders of council, is generally understood to refer
only to the elders of the kiama cha athamaki. The
athuri ya ukuru still remain members of the kiama cha
athamaki, but when they reach this grade, as years go
by, they generally take a less active part in judicial
matters, although they are always called upon to settle
knotty points of tribal law and custom.

When a man becomes a muthuri ya ukuru he
assumes more definite priestly functions, and becomes
responsible for the proper conduct of the periodical
sacrifices at the sacred trees. When such a sacrifice
is made the athuri ya ukuru are alone privileged to eat
half of the head and the kidneys of the sacrificed ram.

In the same way when a sheep is brought to the
kiama as a judicial fee, it is eaten by the elders present,
and the ukuru, if they happen to be there, claim the

212 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

head and the kidneys, which, according to custom, they
pass on to the small boys of the village.

When an elder enters the grade of ukuru he can
wear in his ears the flat discs of brass-wire known as
ichui.

In former times, one of the duties of the ukuru was
to summon the kiama for the discussion of questions of
national importance.

The elders of ukuru also decide the date of the
circumcision feasts, and other similar questions.

It is also the function of the ukuru of the tribe to
settle when the time has arrived for the holding of the
great itwika feast, in which the generation changes from
Mwangi to Maina, or vice versa.

As a general rule the athamaki are men advanced in
years, but there is no fixed rule as to this; many are
middle-aged or younger. Occasionally one may see
quite a young man, practically a youth, among the
elders. The elders explained this as follows: the
election to the muthamaki grade lies entirely with the
athamaki ; if they see a young man whose prudence
and knowledge has impressed them favourably, they
may elect him into their grade ; further, the family of a
muthamaki should always be represented in this grade,
and therefore if one dies and leaves no near relation
other than a young man, they will elect his son or
brother in his place even if he is quite a youth. Such
elections are, of course, rare and are only mentioned in
case these exceptions should be noticed. They are
more frequently found among the A-Kamba, as the
ithembo, or sacred places, are inherited from father to
son, and the owner of an ithembo must always have his
place among the elders of ithembo, who correspond to
the athuri ya ukuru among the A-Kikuyu.

If an eider behaves improperly while occupying the
position of elder, or commits a serious breach of tribal
custom, his fellows threaten to curse him with their
staves and sacred plants, and he stands in such awe of
this that he will appear before the elders and beg for-

WORKING OF COUNCILS 213

giveness, bringing with him a ram or male goat as a
sign of his good intent. He will then be ceremonially
purified, tahikia.

Initiation into the Ukuru Grade of Elders
{Kikuyu). — -When a muthuri, or elder, becomes old he
generally aspires to a higher grade called the ukuru,
but cannot enter it until all his children have been
circumcised. Some, however, never become members
of the ukuru grade ; the consent of the other members
of the grade is necessary and they do not approve of
a candidate who is not well endowed with worldly
goods, or, again, prospective candidates may be
considered unlucky.

When an elder wishes to become a muthuri ya ukuru
he prepares a supply of beer and invites all the elders
of that grade from the surrounding neighbourhood ; if
they agree to his admission they assemble and cere-
monially spit on him. A day is then fixed for the
formal initiation, and a larger gathering of elders of
various grades assembles.

The candidate has to present formally to the elders
of the grade what is called njake, and at the ceremony
at which the writer was present this consisted of :

4 gourds of honey-beer.

4 gourds of sugar-cane beer.

4 gourds of gruel made from kimanga and mawele
meal all mixed together.

4 bowls of cooked njahe or pigeon pea.

Numerous bowls of cooked sweet potatoes.

A bullock and ram were also provided for the guest.

The first thing to be settled was to which elders the
various parts of the beasts should be given ; this goes
by seniority. The head of the bullock went to the
senior, two forelegs and chest to the next, the left
hind leg to the next, the hide to the next, and the right
hind leg to the candidate.

This being decided, the candidate presented each

214 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

of the most senior elders with a gourd of the different
beers and each kind of food. The candidate then
presented the principal wife of the senior elder with
a gourd of beer and food. The senior elder brought
forth a horn of beer, took a sip and spilt a tiny drop
into his left breast and then offered it to the candi-
date who took a sip and ceremonially spat into his
left breast. The senior elder’s wife did the same,
offering the beer to the candidate’s wife. The food
was then divided among the other elders, who gathered
round and drank beer. After this, yarious elders made
speeches welcoming the candidate into the grade and
prayed to Engai to look favourably on him, his wives
being also mentioned with the hope that they might be
fruitful.

The animals are then slaughtered, the following
portions being selected :

The heart of the ram — ngora.

Lungs, a portion of — mahuri.

Intestines, a portion of — wei.

Spleen, a portion of — wenungu.

Loins, a piece from — ruduithi.

Rump, a piece from — ruhongi.

Ribs, portion of — kengeto.

Colon — ngofima.

Kidneys of bullock — kiyo.

The ngorima is cut out and the end tied up; it is
then filled with blood from the ram and bits of meat.

The mro7no waiyu, or big stomach of the ram, is
filled with bits of meat and fat and tied up.

All these are cooked, and when ready are taken
inside the hut of the senior elder and only a chosen
few of the ukuru are allowed inside ; on this particular
occasion only eight were admitted.

The senior elder bites a small piece out of the
ram’s heart and spits out a bit to the right and left as an
offering to the ngoma, or ancestral spirits, and the

WORKING OF COUNCILS 215

candidate does the same. The next senior elder eats
the kengeto. The mahuri and ngorima are given to
the senior wife of the host by the senior wife of the
candidate.

A little honey beer was then brought into the hut,
and the candidate was presented with one of the black
staves which only elders are allowed to carry, and also
the bunch of sacred leaves known as muturanguru
{y ernonia sp). The leaves are tied together with the
fibre from the mukeo bush.

The candidate took hold of the staff and the leaves,
and the senior elder drank a little sip of the beer and
ceremonially spat on the leaves saying “ Aroendwo na
kiama ” — “ May you be well liked by the council of
elders.” This was a kind of blessing which may be
likened to the blessing which accompanies the “ laying
on of hands.”

The ceremony inside the hut was then over, and
all the elders outside indicated its conclusion by taking
a sip of beer and spitting a little on to their right
breasts. The meat was then divided and cooked, and
the company settled down to the feast of meat and beer.

Procedure in P re- administration Times. — The
procedure in former times seems not to have differed
greatly from that followed nowadays in regard to the
form of trial. It is said that the elders of mburi imwe,
igiri and itatu used to sit separately, according to
their rank, instead of together as they seem to do
now, but it is doubtful if this custom was religiously
observed.

The whole procedure was, of course, less organised
than at present. There appear to have been no fixed
councils or meeting places, which is easily explained
by the fact that there were no defined locations. If
two men had a case, they each called a few elders, who
met to judge the case ; others came and joined in,
partly out of interest in the affair and partly because the
elders, on the whole, delight in litigation. Certain
cases became of general interest or may have affected

216 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

the whole country, and then the council would probably
comprise most of the elders from far and wide.

It is certain that the elders could exercise consider-
able authority when they chose, as already described,
but the object of the council was primarily to arbitrate
in disputes and to point out the recognised custom to
be followed. Where an offence affected the whole
community, or when an accused was regarded as an
habitual and dangerous offender, public indignation
might be so strong that the affair would appear as a
public concern, and the elders would then use their
full authority. Ordinarily differences between two
men, however, were considered to be their own affair,
and if a man would not give what was due by custom,
the claimant was expected to use force, although in
such cases he was held liable for any damage done in
using such means. The elders were, however, always
able to enforce a judgment by cursing an accused found
guilty if he refused to obey the judgment against him,
but probably this was only done in very serious cases
where public feeling ran high. Hence, probably, the
many ancient feuds and the intense desire to increase
the strength of the family. Had public authority been
very strong and efficient this would not have been
considered of such importance.

The presumption that the elders were regarded
more in the light of arbitrators than judges is strongly
supported by the fact that even to-day some elders
appear to be adverse to deciding questions of fact.
The mere appearance of a defendant before the
council would seem to have implied his liability; even
now it is difficult at times to induce a native to appear
before either the council or a court if he maintains that
the charge is entirely groundless or false.

Present-Day Procedure. — In each locality there is
a gazetted council, or kiama, which meets at the
council house situated near the headman’s village ; a
special flag is hoisted to tell the people that there is a
meeting. Until now the kiama has met whenever

WORKING OF COUNCILS 217

there has been a case to try, but this has proved a great
evil, as a few elders are hastily collected and the large
majority object to going to the councils too frequently.
The councils have therefore mostly been composed of
elders living in the vicinity of the chief’s village. It
is now arranged that the meetings shall, if possible, be
on fixed days, and not more than three or four times a
month, and the improvement in consequence has been
most marked.

The athamaki for each locality are now registered,
and it has been agreed that at each meeting at least
half, or in large localities, one quarter, of their number
must be present. Hitherto it has been customary for
the headman to summon the defendants through his
askaris, or retainers, but now that each elder has been
entrusted with the charge of a certain number of
huts, it has been agreed that the parties shall in
the first instance be summoned by their respective
athamaki. (In S. Kikuyu each muthamaki will
have, on an average, twenty-five huts under his
charge.)

As a general rule the elders prefer to sit outside the
council house ; this is a good rule, as it ensures
publicity to the proceedings, and publicity is also the
object of native law. The athamaki sit in front and
the other elders, the kamatimo, behind; only women
and anake, or young unmarried men, are barred from
sitting on the general council.

The fee paid to the elders varies greatly according
to the means of the parties and the matter in dispute.
It would be advisable to see a fixed fee instituted, but
the elders should make this change of their own accord.
When the parties appear, they come before the elders
of athamaki in turn and state their cases ; the plaintiff
as a rule begins. Witnesses are sometimes called, but
the parties repeatedly appear before the athamaki to
contradict or correct the opponents’ statements. The
elders generally keep count of the articles in dispute
by breaking twigs ; if, as is usual, part of the claim is

218 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

admitted, the twigs representing what is admitted are
put aside.

Having heard all that the parties have to say the
elders of athamaki then retire alone to discuss the
question and settle it (this conference is called ndundu).
They do not, however, all go, and any elders who are
relatives of the parties are excluded ; this is, of course,
very equitable. The gazetted headmen never appear
to go with these elders, but are sometimes called and
consulted by them. The discussion between the elders
is conducted so that it is not heard by anyone else ; they
are hardly ever known to break up without coming to
an agreement. Having decided what it is to be, they
break twigs representing the amount to be paid or any
imprisonment imposed. One of them repeats what
each twig represents, while the rest give their assent
in chorus. Two of the senior members then stand up
and invoke poverty, sickness, and calamity upon those
who disobey their orders, and to this the rest again
assent in chorus. After this, all beat their sticks on
the ground, repeating much the same phrases, and
finally they bring their staves together on the ground,
so that the points meet, while they give a peculiar sort
of whoop indicating that they have agreed. They then
return to the general council, and one of the most
senior among them, carrying the twigs, asks in varying
terms if they have agreed, to which they assent in
chorus. The elders then state what each twig repre-
sents, and finally throws his staff or club on the earth.

One case was recently witnessed in which the elders
came to a decision without adjourning at all. As a
general rule they are loth to decide facts, and if such
are in dispute, or either party appears to be lying, the
decision will simply be that both parties must take the
oath of muma. The investigation is generally most
searching; if the subject is some hurt done they will
not be satisfied until they have examined and probed
the wounds. No questions are asked as to dates and
time, these being considered of minor importance.

WORKING OF COUNCILS

219

The elders will not recognise that a claim has been
paid unless it was made good before a kiama, and this
is the only proof that it was paid. Natives will
therefore not pay debts out of court, as it were, and
this principle is often erroneously taken to mean that
they will not pay debts at all unless forced to. If the
council imposes a fine, it is paid to the Government.
In almost all cases, however, a goat or two must be
paid to the elders, who are allowed to keep them on
the understanding that such fines must be consumed
by them.

As was previously mentioned, in former times
many of the judgments were not executed until force
was used by the plaintiff and his kin.

The fear of revenge must, indeed, have been the
chief preventative of crime, as it has been at all times
before the State became the public avenger. Mere
compensation could certainly not have acted as a
deterrent to crime any more than it could to-day. We
have therefore, in reinstituting the settlement of crimes
by payment of compensation only, not made adequate
provision for the prevention of crime, nor have we been
able to revive fully the old native organisation by
leaving out the fear of private revenge.

The councils are, it is believed, gradually realising
that crime will not be effectually checked by awards of
compensation only; the right of private revenge has
been abolished. It would therefore seem that the
infliction of imprisonment by councils is at times a
necessity if peace and good order is to prevail, but
stringent supervision by Government will, of course,
be necessary for a long time to come.

Constitution and Working of Councils among
the A-Kamba of Kitui. — The male Mu-Kamba from
birth to death passes through most of the following
grades ;

Kana. — {a) Kahengi, an unweaned child ; [b)
Kabisi, a weaned child able to walk. The generic
name is, however, kana. These distinctions would

220 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

really only amount to our describing children as being
in long clothes or short.

Kivizi or Kivisi. — A boy old enough to herd goats,
but who has not been circumcised.

Kamwana. — A circumcised boy who is old enough
to dance at ngomas, but not reached the age of puberty.

M wanake (plural — Anake). — A young man who has
reached the age of puberty, dances at ngomas, and has
joined the warrior class. He may be married and have
children.

Nthele (plural — Anthele). — A married man with
children who has ceased to dance at ngomas. He pays
a fee of one to three goats to the anthele on being
promoted from the anake grade, part of the meat going
to the anthele and part to the anake. It is said that
an oath, kithito, has to be taken with the blood. A
mwanake may be of any age and must remain in that
group until he has been admitted among the anthele.

N gila. — This does not appear to be a regular grade,
but is merely a war title. No initiation seems to be
necessary. An ngila is one of the advanced guard in
war, and his portion of meat is the lower part of the leg.
It does not seem necessary that he should be even an
nthele.

Mwamba in Kitui, and Kiauu in Machakos, is also
a war title. The bearer forms part of the rear-guard,
whose duty it is to keep off the enemy while the ngila
escape with the booty. His portion is the rump and
upper part of the leg.

An nthele next enters the grade of atumia ya
kisitka, elders of kisuka, and has to pay ten goats.
As a matter of fact they generally pay one bullock,
which is the recognised equivalent, but the fee is always
quoted in goats, the A-Kamba probably having nothing
but goats when the procedure was evolved. The fee
is divided among the members of the kisuka and the
elders of nzama, which is the next higher grade.

Although a man enters this grade, it must not be
inferred that the kisuka is a council which still exists.

WORKING OF COUNCILS

221

The duty of the elders of kisuka is to deal with a
kifTgnoli palaver ; that is to say, the communal execu-
tion of a person who has been proved to their
satisfaction to have killed a number of people by
witchcraft, poison and so forth. The practice corres-
ponds in a measure to the stoning of Stephen by the
people described in Acts vii. 57-60. The people
undoubtedly looked upon this man as a strange and
harmful magician, and their point of view is quite
comprehensible.

They also assembled on the occasion of a Masai
raid to draw up a plan of campaign, another of their
functions being to arrange a peace palaver in case of
serious internal fighting. The grade takes its name
from the meat they ate on the occasion of such
meetings.

The next grade is mutumia ya nzama (plural, atumia
ya nzama), elders of the nzama, and for the privilege
of entering this grade a man has to pay one bullock
and ten goats. Its members are the arbiters of private
disputes, the assessors of damages, and the witnesses
of the payment of bridal price and ordinary debts, and
are thus the archives of the tribe and the registrars of
transactions. A man enters this grade by invitation
of the members of the council, and must have proved
himself a man of sound judgment. His age does not
matter, but he must be married and a father to be
eligible either as a member of the council of the anthele
or of the nzama. At a feast the portion of meat
allotted to him is the head, the back, and, if a bullock
is killed, the rump.

The next, or final grade, is that of atumia ya
ithembo, elders of ithembo, often just referred to as
ithembo, to which there is no specific entrance fee, as
the selection is made by the other elders of the grade.
The candidate, however, invariably makes a present to
the other elders after his election, as a compliment
for the honour done him, the usual payment, according
to the statement of one elder, being four goats.

222 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

The bullock which an elder has to pay to enter the
grade of mama is also said not to be a fee but a thank-
offering to the elders for his election. The atumia ya
ithembo claim the tail as. their portion of a feast.
Their duties are mainly sacerdotal ; they arrange and
carry out the sacrifices at the ithembo, or sacred place,
in times of drought, pestilence, planting of crops, and
they are responsible for the proper carrying out of
burial customs and village offerings to the spirits. In
times of national crisis their advice is sought, but they
do not ordinarily sit and hear cases dealing with private
disputes.

The rise of a Kamba native from one social grade
to another depends :

(1) On his supposed fitness for the position, this

being decided by the members of the grade he
can enter, and an invitation to join is necessary.

(2) On the ability of the candidate to pay the fees.

When a case is brought before the council of elders,
mama, any of the male population can be present, but
can only listen to the evidence and cannot interfere in
the proceedings.

The evidence is generally taken by one man on
behalf of the council ; he conducts the examination and
cross-examines, and if other members of the court wish
to put questions, it is generally done through the
presiding elder.

The Government Chief, or Gazetted Headman,
who is really foreign to the organisation, does not
generally sit with the mama ; he sits apart.

The mama is really a court for the settlement of
questions of law or custom.

Should the evidence on matters of fact differ
materially, the only way, with the exception of very
obvious cases, is for the litigants to take the native
oath {kula kitkito), which is supposed to bring most
dire consequences on the perjurer. A litigant who

WORKING OF COUNCILS

223

refuses to take the oath is out of court, and judgment
goes against him. The results of the oath are
supposed to take effect within six months or a year,
and should the litigant who has taken the oath survive
the period, the case is given in his favour. Only
one party and his witnesses are allowed to take the
oath.

As cattle are generally involved in the case, the
cattle in dispute are generally placed with some
respected headman or elder until the effects of the
oath are known.

The elders of the nzama retire to consider their
verdict, and no members of the tribe below that rank
are admitted to the consultation.

The council generally sits in a circle.

The Government Chief has in recent years assumed
the duty of Executive Officer to carry out the judgment
of the nzama, and in many cases in Ukamba has, at
times, arrogated to himself a certain amount of
revisionary power.

Disputes between members of the same family
rarely come before the council, but are settled by the
head of the family.

Enforcement of Orders of the Council. — Formerly
obedience would be enforced by any sentence, up to
that of a death penalty. At the present day obedience
has in some cases to be enforced by Government.

The successful litigant could enforce the payment
awarded by court by seizing the defendant or members
of his family.

In connection with this inquiry it is of some interest
to analyse the functions of two special grades of
elders among the Kamba, i.e., atumia ya makwa
(elders of makwa) and atumia ya ukuu (elders of
ukuu) .

It must first of all be clearly understood that these
titles have no connection with the ranks of atumia ya
nzama (elders of council) in whose hands the judicial
functions are vested. The members of the highest

224 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

grade of this rank are termed the atumia ya ithembo
(elders of the shrine), both of these ranks being part of
the natural career of the head of a family of any stand-
ing in the tribe. The elders of makwa and ukuu are,
however, more comparable to positions which are
attained by successful medical specialists. A man may
become one or the other, or he may be both. Of the
two branches the elders of ukuu are considered the more
important ; on the other hand, it is said to be more diffi-
cult to become a successful elder of makwa.

These branches of practice must not be confused
with the profession of medicine man, which is quite
distinct. A man can only become a medicine man if
he is in direct communication with the aiimu, or
ancestral spirits.

The function of a mutumia ma makwa (elder of
makwa) is to avert the evil consequences of the inci-
dence of a thabu or makwa ; the functions of a mutumia
ma ukuu is to ward off death itself.

The former uses ceremonial and lustrates by means
of various herbs, from which he concocts the ti^ondu
or purifying reagents.

The latter {ukuu) uses spells which have a magical
value only, and gives directions.

The qualification which enables a man to become a
mutumia ma makwa (elder of makwa) is that one of his
wives shall have died under circumstances which may
leave a curse or thabu. He must then at once consult
an elder of makwa, who performs certain purification
ceremonies. If these are not performed the children of
the deceased will become afflicted with thabu or makwa.
If the ceremonies are successful the husband is con-
sidered to be initiated as an elder of makwa ; if, how-
ever, he wishes to practise the art, he must set to work
to obtain experience, as the ceremonial necessary to
cure the many forms of makiva is very varied, and a
wide knowledge of the various herbs employed is
necessary.

In the case of a mutumia ma ukuu (elder of

WORKING OF COUNCILS

225

ukuu) the necessary qualification is a series of deaths
in the family within a short period. He can then go
to another elder of ukuu, pay fees and be initiated in
the secrets of the art — the fee is usually one or two
bullocks; his duties are to remove the curse due to
murders, accidental deaths, and remove the curse of
death from a family which has been afflicted by an
unusual number of deaths. He does not perform puri-
fication ceremonial, but lays down certain procedure
which has to be followed by the applicant. He may be
compared to the consulting physician who gives certain
advice, such as a particular diet, and leaves the patient
to follow it or not as he likes. The prescription some-
times, for instance, takes the form of a direction to have
conjugal intercourse at a particular season.

The final degree which he reaches in old age is
called mutumia ma ithembo (elder of the shrine), and
his duty then is to offer the sacrifices at the sacred grove
or ithembo. Among the Kamba tribe the members of
this grade take but little part in the affairs of the tribe,
but in Kikuyu the athuri ya ukuu form a tribal court of
appeal (the word ukuu in Kikuyu has a different signi-
ficance from ukuu in Ukamba and merely means “ great
or senior ”).

If an elder of ithembo becomes so old as to fall into
his dotage, and has a son who is qualified to take his
place, the son is often elected in his stead.

If, however, a mutumia ma nzama (elder of council)
is married to a wife who is a magician, and who can
instruct him in certain matters connected with the ritual
of the shrine, he can approach much nearer to the sacred
grove than the ordinary elder of nzama, but cannot
actually go up to the place of sacrifice — the elders of
ithembo only being privileged to do so.

Elders of ithembo are very few in number ; there are
rarely more than two for each grove. The above
practice is prevalent among the Kamba of Ulu. The
Kitui customs may possibly vary somewhat.

The author is greatly indebted to the late Hon. K.

p

226 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Dundas for assistance in making these matters
clear.

Curse for Disobedience to a Judgment by the
Court of Elders. — In connection with the history of
the operation of the thahu in Kikuyu one point is
worthy of notice. If a person has been one of the
parties in a suit before the kiama, or council of
elders, and refuses to pay the necessary compensation,
the elders can lay a curse or thahu on him. The pro-
cedure is as follows; they assemble at one of their
recognised meeting places and then mass together,
beating their long staves on the ground in unison,
calling out, “We curse you on the mithegi ; the person
who disobeys the order of the kiama shall be cursed.”
Mithegi is the name of the staves carried by old men,
the name coming from the wood they are made of. No
elder goes to a council without his staff. The offender
need not be present, but it is believed that the curse
forthwith begins to take effect.

To remove the curse the offender then goes to the
elders and begs to be allowed to pay the amount of the
judgment. This is done, and in addition he brings a
sheep ; the elders then say, “ Go back home, bring some
beer, and the day after to-morrow we will come and
spit on you.” They assemble at his village on the
appointed day and the offender gives another sheep,
which is killed outside the gate of the village; the
purpose of this is to purify the village, ku-thirura
muchi, and the meat is carried round the confines of
the huts. The elders then each take a little of the
sheep’s fat and rub it on their staves, saying, “ We are
glad that the man who defied our orders has now obeyed
it; we cursed him through our mithegi, but we now
smear our mithegi with fat, as a sign that we and our
mithegi are glad, and there is now nothing to be feared,
for we have come to cleanse you and your village from
evil.” The elders then assemble in a circle with the
man and his family in the middle, and one of the elders
anoints the tongue of each individual of the family with

WORKING OF COUNCILS

227

a spot of ira, or white earth, and the elders then cere-
monially spit on the offender and each of his family,
and depart.

The same belief occurs in Ukamba, and the mama,
or council of elders, can inflict a curse upon a man for
disregard of its orders ; if he is still recalcitrant it is said
to be potent enough to kill him and all the people of
his village in a short time. The elders impose this
curse, called kutuu, by all clapping their hands
together. The effect of the curse can be averted if
the man obeys and the elders forgive him; as in
Kikuyu, however, he has to pay a fee of a goat, and the
elders assemble and ceremonially spit on the culprit
to neutralise the curse. The removal of this curse is
called ka-athimwa or ka-musia by the A-Kamba.

Sometimes, however, in Kikuyu a defiant tribesman
was beaten with staves, or his village was burnt, and in
extreme cases he was ordered to be killed and his
property was confiscated. If he was executed by
judicial order, he had to be killed by his blood kin, so
that no claim for blood money should lie. The pro-
cedure consists either in strangling the culprit with a
rope, choking him by clasping his throat kuita, or
killing him by blows delivered with the handle of an
axe.

It was also considered right to drive a man out
of his tribe if he proved himself an undesirable; this
may be done even now, in which case he is allowed to
take his property with him.

Summary. — The preceding review of the organisa-
tion of the councils of elders, and the functions
exercised by them, show how, in the first place, the
elders are merely administrators of tribal law or arbiters
as to what is right and proper according to the tribal
code ; secondly, how they eventually acquire a sacer-
dotal position. The memories of the elders are also
the archives of the tribe as well as the unwritten records
of tribal law and tribal observances. If a debt of any
importance is paid, it is generally done in the presence

228 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

of one or more elders, and the matter is then settled
without the necessity of any receipt or quittance.

It is sometimes assumed by reformers that the elders
are nothing more than useless encumbrances, and every
district officer wishes they were more progressive.
They certainly have their faults, and in some tribes the
faults almost overshadow the more useful qualities. On
the other hand, we may be rather over anxious to push
things along, and we are apt to expect a tribe to jump
into a higher cultural plane in too short a time. We
forget too easily that reform must come from within,
and that the inner consciousness of a tribe changes
slowly. A veneer applied on the surface is always
thin, and is unlikely to wear.

To illustrate this organisation it may be interesting
to refer to the account of the Druids of Britain, about
55 B.C., left to us by Caesar; these functionaries appar-
ently performed very much the same duties as those of
the present-day elders of the ithembo in Kikuyu and
Ukamba ; in the case of these tribes, however, the line
between ordinary people and the priestly caste does
not seem to be as sharply marked as it was in Britain.
Caesar in Bell. Gall. vi. 13-14 writes as follows :

“ Among the Celts there are only two classes held
in consideration and honour, the Knights {equites) and
the Druids. The latter are concerned with all things
divine, manage the public and private sacrifices, inter-
pret sacred omens and religious scruples. (N.B. —
This is identical with the duties of the atkuri ya ukuru
as regards thahu, etc.). For they make decisions on
almost all disputes, both private and public, and if a
crime is committed, e.g., a murder, or if a lawsuit arises
concerning heritages or disputed boundaries, it is they
who give judgment. They name the compensation
and assess the penalty, and if any private person will
not accept their award they interdict him from taking
part in the sacrifice. This is the heaviest punishment
they can impose. Persons thus placed under interdict
are held impious and accursed ; men quit their company

WORKING OF COUNCILS

229

and avoid meeting them or speaking to them lest they
may come to harm from the contagion of the wicked.”

All this has a peculiarly African flavour, and with
slight amendment might refer to the constitution of a
modern African tribe on the same level of civilisation
as the Kikuyu or Kamba people.

CHAPTER II

LAWS OF COMPENSATION FOR MURDER

It is a matter of great importance, from an administra-
tive point of view, that these should be properly
understood, as a murder is otherwise likely to create a
hereditary feud between the two families, which will
eventually lead to fresh crimes.

Kikuyu. — In Kikuyu, for instance, until the
ceremonial has all been properly carried out, no
member of the family of the murdered man can eat food
out of the same dish or drink beer with any member of
the family of the murderer. In Ukamba it is believed
that unless the matter is properly adjusted according
to the law (their law) the members of the family of the
murderer will continually be involved in quarrels which
are likely to end by one of them killing his neighbour,
and conversely the members of the family of the
murdered man become involved in quarrels and are
liable to be killed in the same way as their relation.
If one tries to look at the matter from their point of
view it appears to be this; there is a bad spirit or
muimu about, belonging to an ancestor ; it enters into
a man and the result is that the next time he quarrels
with a neighbour he kills him. This spirit may
continue to possess that person, or it may go on to
another member of that family with the same result.
In the same way the muimu of the deceased, the
murdered man, influences the aiimu in the bodies of
all the members of his family and makes them afraid.

230

COMPENSATION FOR MURDER 231

They know that this death-dealing spirit is abroad, and
the members of the family are more liable to be killed
if they become entangled in a broil. Thus both
families are anxious that this state of affairs should
cease and that the troublesome spirit be appeased and
laid to rest.

The explanation just given may or may not be the
final interpretation, but the fact remains that it is
considered a vital necessity that the ceremonies
necessary to close the trouble caused in a tribe by a
murder should be carried out according to the law of
the tribe, and only by the observance of the proper
ritual can the avenging spirit be appeased.

In South Kikuyu there are only two persons
qualified to perform these ceremonies; Gachii wa
Kihara and Juguna wa Kihara, both sons of a great
elder and chief named Kihara, of the Anjiru clan,
upon whom those duties devolved. The office is
apparently hereditary.

The ceremonies are called Kugira uhio wa kuna
mundu, which means “To carry the man who was
killed,” and the word mugiro, derived from ku-gira, is
also used in this connection. Of course, the payment
of compensation has now been abrogated by Govern-
ment, and the death penalty imposed in its place
according to our law, so that the functions of the elders
mentioned have of late years been confined to the
supervision of the ceremonies which have magical or
religious significance. The description of the affair,
however, which was obtained from Gachii himself,
takes no cognisance of the amendment caused by the
substitution of the “ lex talionis ” for the old principle
of “ wergild ” or compensation. The procedure runs
as follows : soon after the murder has occurred the
father of the murderer summoned Gachii or Juguna to
his village, and whichever of these elders attended took
with him eight athuri ya ukmi (elders of appeal), and
the first object of their mission was to stop any fighting
between the young men of the two parties.

232 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

They remained at the village, and the father of the
murderer then collected seventy goats and sent them
to the father of the murdered man, and a bullock and
a male sheep to the mother of the deceased. This
bullock is important; it is called ndegwa muhiriga or
njiga migwe, that is the “ ox for the clan ” or the “ ox
of the arrows,” which represents a peace offering to the
clan, and prevents the clan of the deceased taking out
their arrows to avenge their brother. Two days later
thirty goats were collected and sent to the father of the
deceased. The compensation of a hundred sheep or
goats can be paid either in goats or sheep or cattle, but,
whatever is paid, the count is always kept in sheep or
goats. For instance, a thenge, or big male goat, may
count as two or three goats, according to size, and in the
same way an ox has its stated rate of exchange and
is counted as so many goats ; in pre-European days the
ox counted as three goats, and a heifer or cow counted
as ten in paying compensation or in marriage fees for
a wife.

The next payment is nine male sheep to the athuri
ya ukuu, nine more sheep being given to the father
of the deceased, and nine ewes, nyarume, to the
maternal uncle of the deceased, or mamawe, as he is
called. The father of the murderer and the father of
the deceased then each bring a male sheep, and the
trunk of a banana plant is procured, placed on the
ground, and the murderer and his relations seat them-
selves on one side of it, and the relatives of the other
party on the opposite side ; four of the athuri ya ukuu
also sit on each side. The two sheep are then killed,
and the two parties exchange pieces of cooked meat
and eat them ; they then exchange pieces of sugar cane
and sweet potatoes smeared with tatha (the contents
of the stomach of the sheep), which are given to the
women and children of the two families. Some gruel
is also exchanged; this is for the children of the two
families, and is eaten inside the villages of the two
parties.

COMPENSATION FOR MURDER 233

The presiding elder, Gachii or Juguna, does not sit
with either party, but a little way off, his function being
to see that the proper ritual is observed.

The elders then take the spear or sword with which
the murder was committed, and beat it until it is quite
blunt. The spear head or sword is taken away and
thrown into a deep pool in the nearest river. They say
that if this were not done the weapon would continue to
be the cause of murder.

The final act is what is called ku-kukutiwa ithe na
nyina (to purify father and mother). The elders adorn
themselves with necklets of a grass called ngoka, which
they wear for eight days, but if at the expiration of this
period no moon is visible they cannot take them off
till the moon reappears. When the day comes for
dispensing with them they cross a river and bury them
on the far side, and return home without looking back.
In North Kikuyu, Mwaitume, it is said that they throw
the rings away in an old shamba, garden, dig up a sweet
potato, eat it, and then return home.

These ceremonies are the same for both grades of
the Kikuyu, viz.; those circumcised Kikuyu fashion,
and those circumcised Masai fashion. If they are
properly carried out they wipe out all questions of
blood feud, and the members of both families can eat
together.

If the mugifo ceremonies are not properly carried
out, the spirit of the murdered man will go back to his
village, cry out in the night like a child, and enter into
one of the villagers, who will become as one possessed.
The people will call out to him, “ Who are you ? ” and
he will reply, “ I am So-and-so ” (mentioning the
deceased). “ I have come because I have been
abandoned.” A near blood relative of the deceased must
then take a male goat or sheep, if the deceased was a
man, or a young ewe, mwati, if the victim was a woman,
into the bush, where it is killed by strangulation, and
immediately it is dead its throat is pierced and the blood
allowed to run out on the ground. They then carve a

234 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

piece of meat from each limb and part of the animal,
and place them in a heap, the bones also being placed
in another heap, and left there. Any meat that remains
is eaten by the elders ; the person who was possessed of
the ngoma, or spirit, of the deceased then recovers.

The customs vary according to different cases, the
compensation for the murder of a woman being only
thirty sheep or goats and three rams.

If a man murders his cousin on his mother’s side of
the family, the father of the murderer collects fifty sheep
or goats, and pays them to the head of the family of
the deceased, and the recipients usually kill an ox which
is eaten by both parties ; the elaborate ritual described
above is not observed because of the blood relationship
which exists.

If a man kills his brother or sister by the same
mother there is no compensation — the case very rarely
arises ; the father would, however, kill a sheep and
make his children eat it together.

If a pregnant woman is struck and injured by a
man, and miscarries in consequence, the elders are
called in to settle the matter. The culprit has to bring
two male sheep ; first one is killed and eaten by the
villagers and the elders, but not by the woman. The
second is eaten by the woman and visitors, but not by
the elders.

Some of the fat and meat of this second animal is
cooked in a pot with some bitter herbs, and the woman
drinks the decoction, this being evidently in the nature
of a purification; it is called theria nda, to purify the
belly. The people present who are nearly related,
either to the offender or the woman, are then invested
with rukwaru, or wristlets, made of the skin of the sheep
first mentioned.

This is not a matter for the athuri ya ukuu, but the
ordinary councillors, athuri ya kiama.

Ukamba. — In Ukamba there is a general similarity
of ideas, but a considerable difference in ceremonial.

The general compensation for the murder of a man

COMPENSATION FOR MURDER 235

is thirteen cows, two bulls, and fifty goats ; and for a
woman six cows, two bulls, and one goat.

In each case the actual blood money is twelve cows
and five cows respectively, the balance being for the
ceremonies necessary to wipe out the blood stains, and
which bear the name of etumo.

The cow, the two bulls, and the goat are taken to
the village of the murdered man ; the elders, athuri ya
ukuu, assemble there, and the goat is first killed at
about five p.m. The murderer must not be present; if
he or any member of his clan appeared at the etumo
ceremonies they would probably be killed. Fourteen
pieces of meat are cut from its throat, an elder impales
seven pieces on a wooden skewer, and puts them into
the mouth of the wife of the deceased, who eats them,
and the other seven are similarly given to the brother
of the deceased. When darkness comes on, the elders
retire to a short distance from the village, and the
widow and her brother-in-law retire to a hut and have
connection ; they then return and call the elders.

Upon their return the bull is killed and they receive
half of its meat and half of that of the goat, the
remainder being consumed by the family of the
deceased. All the meat must be eaten during the
night, and none of the bones must be broken, and
before morning the latter must be carried out and
deposited in the bush by the elders. The hides of the
two animals must not be allowed to remain in the
village, but are carried off by any elders who do not
belong to the same mbai, or clan, as the deceased.
The cow remains in the village, and becomes the
personal property of the widow, who is not allowed to
sell it.

The collection of the number of cattle payable as
blood money generally takes some time, and the
members of a man’s clan often assist him to pay.
When they are all collected, an assembly of people and
elders takes place at the village of the deceased, com-
prising members of the family and clan as well as

236 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

strangers, and a bull is slaughtered from the compensa-
tion cattle; there is a general feast, and each person
takes a strip of the hide away for tying up loads. The
cattle are then divided; the senior member of the
deceased’s family receives one cow and pays back one
bull, the maternal grandfather of the deceased receives
a cow and pays back a bullock, and if there is a half-
brother of the deceased he receives a cow and pays back
a bull, provided that he does not live in the village of
the deceased. If there is a village of the same clan near
by, the head of it receives a cow and pays back a bull.
None of these cows may be sold or given in exchange
for a wife ; if this rule is broken the recipient has to pay
back a cow to the family. The bulls given in exchange
provide feasts for the elders, members of the family of
the deceased, and members of the clan. The remain-
der of the cattle are the property of the eldest brother
of the deceased, who divides them between the mother
and wife or wives of the deceased, who have the use
of the milk. He cannot dispose of one of the beasts
without the permission of these women.

The payment of the cow, bull, and goat first
mentioned is of ritual importance, and is called etumo ;
they are necessary to protect both the family of the
murderer and the murdered one from the powers of the
unappeased death-dealing spirit which is abroad.
Even if the killing was accidental {mbanga) the eiumo
payments and ritual must be observed, because it
shows that there is a bad influence about or the
accident would never have occurred.

In former times, if a man of one clan killed another
in some inter-tribal fight, the custom was for a brother
to waylay and kill a man of the clan who had killed his
brother. The two deaths cancelled each other, and
there was no further question of compensation, but it
was considered essential that the etumo fees should be
paid and the proper ceremonial observed.

One other point in connection with the weapon
used in the murder should be mentioned : in Kikuyu the

COMPENSATION FOR MURDER 237

spear is thrown away, but in Ukamba the weapon is
nearly always an arrow, which is carried away some
distance and placed on a path, the idea apparently
being that it contains a harmful essence which it is
impossible to remove, and the evil is believed to
pass on to whoever picks it up. If this is not
done the evil is said to remain with the family of the
deceased.

The Kii^noli Custom. — In the author’s “ Ethnology
of A-Kamba,” p. 95, an account is given of the old
form of judicial execution called kirCgnoli which used
to be customary throughout Ukamba. It is also
referred to by C. Dundas in the “ History of Kitui,”
P-5H;

It is not proposed to describe over again the details
of the procedure, but while considering the question
of sacrifice, it may be interesting to point out the
similarity of this practice with the judicial slaying which
took place among the ancient Semites, e.g., among the
Hebrews the criminal was stoned.

Professor R. Smith ably shows how the idea of an
execution of this kind is not penal in one sense of the
word : it is not done to punish the offender, but to rid
the community of an impious member — generally a man
who has shed the tribal blood.

It would appear that the repeated spilling of tribal
blood is an act which annoys the aiimu of the tribe to
such an extent that an ordinary sacrifice is insufficient
to appease them, and a human sacrifice becomes
necessary either as an expiation or to re-establish good
relations; by not offering compensation for the crimes
he has committed, the brothers of the criminal formally
surrender him to the community and this acquits the
community of any bloodstain.

The kw^noli custom is also known among the
Kikuyu, who call it mwinge. The Hon. C. Dundas
states that the procedure in Kikuyu is practically the
same as that in Ukamba except that the near relative
of the accused, whose consent to the execution is

238 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

essential, had to carry it out by strangling the convicted
person.

Another important point is that any person giving
evidence against a tribesman being tried under this
law had to make his charges on the kithito or kithathi
which is one of the most potent oaths.

CHAPTER III

CEREMONIAL OATHS

The Kithito of Ukamba. — This is the most powerful
oath recognised by the tribe, and is common to all
sections of the Kamba ; it corresponds to the kithathi of
the Kikuyu. The apparatus for the oath is made by
medicine men. Secret medicines are placed in the
horn of a buffalo or hartebeest, a hippo tusk, or on the
bottom end of a small ivory tusk. There is usually one
in each district, and it is always in the possession of a
particular elder; in many cases, they have been bought
from the makers, who reside in either Mumoni or
Tharaka country. All over the world the idea that
better medicine can be obtained from a distance than
at home seems to exist; even in England, people in
the provinces have unbounded faith in the London
specialist.

Some of these kithito are undoubtedly of great
age, and are handed down through many generations.
The kithito must always be kept away from the village,
as it might harm the inmates; it is generally hidden
away in a cavity in the rocks. It is carried about in a
small pot or a basket, being very dangerous to handle ;
the original owner or his son, if he has been taught,
can handle it by observing certain precautions, but
no one else. An unmarried man cannot possess a
kithito.

The writer once witnessed the administration of a
kithito oath near Machakos at Mathendu’s. The
gathering was a very large one, and elders from all

239

240 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

parts of the district were present, all the various clans
being represented. It was an occasion of some
importance, the object of the gathering being for
representative elders from each council to swear upon
the kithito to conduct their councils and the interna!
government of the district upon proper lines and to
afford the local councils due support.

The congregation of elders, which probably
numbered some five hundred, sat round in a large
circle on the hill-side ; in the centre were a few of the
senior chiefs and elders from each clan and the elders
chosen to officiate. The first proceeding was for an
elder to march round the outside of the whole circle
with the kithito, which was suspended by a string ; after
this, all the persons included in the circle were subject
to the effects of the oath. The kithito was then brought
into the centre of the circle and deposited on a branch
of the acacia tree, kistimi.

As far as could be seen the contents of the kithito
were as follows :

A shell (containing secret medicine).

A human leg bone.

The tooth of a ruminant.

Twigs from various trees.

The whole of these were wrapped in a portion of
a plaited Kamba fibre bag {chondo). Stones were
arranged on the ground around the package. The end
of the kithito parcel faced towards the afternoon sun,
i.e., the west.

The officiating elder then stood on the two stones
to the west of the kithito and, with a thin stick, touched
the kithito and recited the terms of the oath. The
object of these stones was to insulate him from the
ground while he was engaged in the ceremony.

At each item of the oath the elder took a thin stick
and dipped it in some blackish sticky medicine in the
shell and recited the particular points, saying : “ If

%

•rv .

KAMBA ELDER WITH KIBHITO.

CEREMONIAL OATHS

241

any man breaks this, may he be thrown away,” and
then jerked the stick over his right shoulder in the
direction of the sun.

After the ceremony, the kithito was carried away
and a sheep was killed near by and the iatha, or
stomach contents, were sprinkled on the ground at
the spot where the kithito had been. This was said
to be done to cure the ground from the evil effects of
the kithito.

T he Oath of the Sacred Bead [Chuma cha mchugti)
in Kikuyu. — This oath or ordeal belongs to the same
class as those described in the writer’s work, “ Eth-
nology of A-Kamba ” (Camb. Press), pp. 139-143, viz.,
the kithathi and ku~ringa thengi ceremonies.

If one man is in debt to another and repudiates
his debt, the creditor goes to the elders and demands
that they may both be given the ordeal of the chuma cha
mchugu {chuma is the Kikuyu word for bead).

Now the bead used for this purpose must be one
of a particular kind, which has been handed down from
past ages and is evidently believed to be of magical
value. Several of the clans in Kikuyu are alleged to
possess specimens of this bead, each one being in
charge of a particular elder ; they are said to be reddish
in colour and rather long in shape.’ Endeavours have
been made to get a specimen for examination, but it has
not been possible to locate one ; the elders state that
they have not seen one used for some years. A chuma
cha mchugu must not be kept in a house, but is
hidden away in the bush- — in this particular it is like the
kithathi.

To return, however, to the ceremonial connected
with its use ; on the appointed day the creditor and
debtor meet the elders; the latter sit in a circle and
the former sit on the ground in the middle and facing
each other. Each takes a piece of fine grass and places

* These are probably ancient carnelian beads; they are occasion-
ally found among- the divination apparatus of medicine men; they
almost certainly were derived from Egypt or the Nile valley.

Q

242 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

it inside the aperture in the bead and swears, as the
case may be, that he lent a cow, or that he borrowed
a cow, and that if he testifies falsely may he be eaten
by the bead (i.e., destroyed). Sometimes the bead is
held in the hand, and sometimes it is placed on the
ground between the two parties.

Perjury is believed to result in the death of the
perjurer, and furthermore serious harm, even death, to
his near relatives.

If a man who has perjured himself by this oath dies,
his brothers by the same parents will promptly pay the
debt, and then call in the elders to remove the curse,
or thahu, which the perjury has inflicted. To effect
this lustration, the sacred bead has to be brought to
the village, a sheep is killed and some of the stomach
contents are smeared on the bead. Another sheep is
next marched round the afflicted village, is killed, and
the people eat the meat. The bones of the sheep are
afterwards collected and calcined in the fire on which
the meat was cooked, next morning a libation of beer
being poured over the ashes of the bones by the elders
of the village. A medicine man is then summoned,
and he purifies {tahikid) the villages, and these are
finally safe from all danger from this thahu.

There is another piece of ritual in which beads play
a part. If an elder or old woman dies in one village,
and later on a similar death occurs in a neighbouring
village, the head of each village goes to assist at the
hukura or death ceremonies (described in Chapter VI)
at the village where the death has occurred. At the con-
clusion of these ceremonies each will have two blue
trade ring beads, of the pattern known as mtinorok,
fastened on his wrist, and the senior wife of the
principal elder of the village where the death occurred
will have two beads tied to her wrist ; they wear these
for eight days, and then bathe and cast the beads into
a river ; finally they wash their clothes there and return
home. 4

The custom is practised only by the people belong- ^

CEREMONIAL OATHS

243

ing to the Kikuyu circumcision guild. The blue beads
used on this occasion are ordinary trade beads and are
called chunia cha mchugu, but are not the sacred beads
referred to in the earlier portion of this chapter.
Probably, as the real chuma cha mchugu are very rare,
they pretend that these are the real articles, or think
they delude the spirits into believing that the beads are
the genuine thing.

The sacred bead is also said to be used for the
detection of thieves ; the elders declare that the bead is
first doctored by a medicine man and then thrown away
in the direction of the suspected person, and the elders
simultaneously cry out, “ Go and find the thief.” The
belief is that after it is thus thrown the bead will enter
the stomach of the offender and trouble him to such
an extent that he will be forced to confess, and he can
then be ceremonially purified and healed.

The Muma Oath and Adultery. — K case of
adultery occurred in Kikuyu in which a man, having
seduced a woman, afterwards induced her to take the
oath of muma that she would not tell her husband.
After a time she disclosed this to her husband and,
shortly after, she died. The husband then sued for
blood money, but the elders refused his demand on the
ground that if the woman had held her tongue the
muma would not have killed her. The husband then
demanded that the man should jump over the corpse
seven times ; this he refused to do and the elders would
not insist as they held that the woman had, in fact,
committed suicide.

CHAPTER IV

WAR AND PEACE

IV ar. — In former times raids were conducted by the
anake or warrior class only, but if the country was
invaded, the younger elders also fought, while the old
men went to hide with the women and stock; elders
were armed with bows and arrows, but the anake of
Kikuyu carried spears and swords only.

The Kikuyu apparently made a good stand against
the Masai invaders, for it is said that the Masai killed
most of the Dorobo, so presumably this tribe was
unable to stand against the invaders while the Kikuyu
held their own. It is probable that the scourge of the
Masai was generally much overrated, and that they
were as often as not badly beaten by other tribes.

During a Masai invasion it was customary to bury
knives at the foot of mugumu trees ; this was supposed
to give the invaders sore and swollen feet.

Expeditions and raids were led by three anake
called asigani. These had first to consult with a
medicine man, who would say whether they could be
asigani or not ; Kamiri was particularly noted as such a
medicine man. If approved by the medicine man they
had to go alone into Masai country as a test of courage
and spy out where the cattle were. Only such men
could be leaders of raids, and they remained as asigani
until they had passed the warrior age.

On return from a raid the booty was brought
together and the elders assembled. The asigani had
first choice of the spoil, and got about one quarter more

244

WAR AND PEACE

245

than the rest. The elders merely looked on, and each
warrior took his share of the booty home ; the father
took possession of the cattle so long as his son remained
in the village, but if he left the village and settled
elsewhere he would take with him the stock he had
obtained in war.

The only elder who was actually given any part
was the medicine man who had been previously con-
sulted as to the success of the raid. When a raid was
arranged, the warriors were collected from everywhere,
but no one was forced to join. Special distinction was
attained by those who had killed a Masai. Such a man
was called mundu wa rohiu, man of the sword; the
shield and spear of the Masai he would give to his
uncle, from whom, in turn, he received a goat or two ;
he would also go round to all his relations, who would
give him small presents, but to prove his deed he had
to bring back the sword of the slain Masai, otherwise he
was not believed.

The Kikuyu apparently often raided Masai
country, but raids on the Kamba were considered
much more dangerous, and were only undertaken
by large bodies and with greater precautions. The
whole force was divided up into various bodies to
guard against total annihilation ; attacks were made
only at night, and as soon as the stock was captured it
was sent, under escort, to Kikuyu so that if they were
attacked and killed the stock was saved.

Women and children were also taken and handed
over to the warrior’s father, but a Kamba was
generally permitted to redeem his wife for nine head
of cattle ; this is said to have been the practice owing to
the former friendship existing between the Kamba and
the Kikuyu. This practice was broken later, because
the Kamba always stole the wives of the Kikuyu. The
Kamba is to this day an incorrigible wife stealer; the
same cause led to his breaking friendship with the
Masai and Galla, so the legend goes.

It is said that fights with the Kamba were more

246 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

frequent than with the Masai, and that they were much
more feared because of the Kamba arrows, but never-
theless the Kikuyu declare that they penetrated as far as
Mumoni, and that they also fought the Emberre.
Gachii wa Kichara remembers that on one occasion the
Kamba and Kikuyu joined to fight the Masai, but that
the Kamba ran away, not because they were afraid of
the Masai, but because they foresaw that they would
have to fight the more numerous Kikuyu if they were to
get any of the booty.

On the whole it would appear that the Kikuyu were
no mean fighting tribe ; they certainly inflicted very
severe lessons on the Masai, and they gave us no little
trouble in the early days. One can, however, scarcely
imagine them to have been warlike judging from their
present character, but the generation of warriors before
our time have passed into elders, and the present
warrior class has never known war; this class is also
rapidly disappearing, and the young native now marries
long before the time when wars and raids allowed them
to do so in the past.

It is believed to be very lucky to meet a mole on
the way to war; a warrior kills it with his spear and
carries the skin on the point of it ; this is supposed to
bring him good fortune in the fight.

Before the Kikuyu went to war they used to sacrifice
at the sacred trees in the usual way ; the elders attended,
but not the warriors ; their weapons were not smeared
with the sacrificial blood. If any of the warriors killed
an enemy during the fighting, the elders who had con-
ducted the sacrifice above mentioned shaved the heads
of the warriors upon their return, took away the hair
and hid it in the woods. They also smeared their faces
with a line of ira, or white earth, and the spear which
had done the killing was also smeared with ira. This
white earth is generally used as a protecting agent
against evil influences, in this case doubtless the spirits
of the slaughtered foes.

If cattle were captured the captain of the warriors, as

WAR AND PEACE

247

soon as possible after the fight, would choose a fine
bullock from the spoil and slaughter it as near as
possible to the scene of the fighting. This was done as
a thank-offering to the deity, Engai. The bullock
should be a whole coloured beast, either black, white,
or red, and not spotted or parti-coloured.

The elders who go to sacrifice and pray at the
sacred tree before the fighting, and the captain of the
warriors, eat the meat ; the bulk of the fighting men do
not participate. The hide of the bullock is left on
the spot after the feast.

Peace Ceremonial {Kikuyu). — Seven elders from
the clans or tribes at enmity each meet with a number of
the warrior class, the different sides providing a ram or
he-goat, which is slaughtered. An elder of one side
then takes the intestines and cuts them with a razor and
says : “ Who breaks this peace may he be cut as this
is cut.” An elder from the other side now takes the
intestines from the animal provided by his side and goes
through the same ceremonial. Both sides then eat the
meat together.

In the days of the early travellers, some fifteen to
twenty-five years ago, the Kikuyu were noted for their
treachery; one day they would make peace with a
caravan and the next day attack it. The elders were
asked the reason of this, and whether they believed that
peace deliberately broken would bring evil on the
breakers of it; they said it was quite true that many
had been guilty in this respect, but that the great famine
of 1 899, and the smallpox which followed it, had killed
off all the guilty ones.

In former war-like times when a member of another
tribe came to the village of an elder and wished to enter
into brotherhood and settle among the tribe, the elder
would summon his colleagues and kill a bullock. The
stranger would be formally adorned with a bracelet
made of the ox hide, and he would then be safe from
harm. The meat was eaten by the assembled elders
and the villagers. The elder then chose a daughter

248 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

for him to marry. If, for instance, the head of the
village belonged to the Anjiru clan, the stranger became
a M unjiru ; and he also adopted the circumcision guild
of his host. If, after this, anyone belonging to the
tribe were to kill him, the murderer would have to
pay a hundred goats and nine rams to his adopted
father, nine rams for the elders and nine rams for his
mother.

Peace Ceremonial, Ukamba {Kitui). — The elders
of the vanquished side bring an ox, and the elders of
the winning side bring a kithito. The elders of each
side assemble in two groups in the centre, and the
warriors are collected in two masses, one on either side
of the area chosen for the ceremony. The kithito
oath is then administered to the leaders of the two
groups of fighting men.

They kill the ox, skin it, and cut the meat off
the throat and also cut out a few of the vertebrae of the
neck (ngata) and place them on the kithito. An iron
arrow head is then produced and tied on to a shaft ; it
must be tied with the fibre from the lilambia bush, and
a few thorns of the mulaa tree are also fastened to the
arrow. A small bag is made from a piece of the small
intestine of the ox and is filled with blood. The
officiating elder then picks up the arrow and slits open
this bag and allows the blood to drip on the neck-
vertebrae and meat, which are placed on the kithito,
and calls out to the assembly : “ If anyone breaks this
peace may he be slit as the mwethi wa kitutu.” The
neck bones and meat are then left to be devoured by
hyaenas.

Before this, however, an oath is administered to
each of the captains of the fighting ; those who take the
oath are naked ; the right arm and right leg are smeared
with ashes, and a bunch of leaves is fastened over the
pubes. Each man takes a bundle of arrows in his
right hand and swears by the kithito that he will never
again fight the opposite party and that if any should
come to his villages they shall be received as friends ;

WAR AND PEACE

249

the company of warriors assent to this and say, “If
you break this oath may the kithito slay you.”

Blood Brotherhood {Ukamba of Kitui). — The two
parties meet and a goat is killed ; two pieces of the
liver are taken and slightly fried on a fire. A small
incision is then made in the right forearm, the chest,
and the navel of each party, and a spot of the blood
therefrom is smeared on the liver. The two pieces are
then exchanged and eaten jointly.

This is a very sacred and lasting oath of friendship.
If ever it is broken, the people are very shocked and
Engai is believed to injure the village of the one who
breaks it and probably both blood kin and stock will die.

It is often difficult to state with precision whether the
high god or the ancestral spirits are meant when the
term Engai is here used. In this case, however, the
high god is probably referred to. And if the opinion be
correct, it is a striking example of the belief in the
concept of a personal God, who takes a continual and
minute interest in the doings of His creatures.

CHAPTER y

MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

Adoption into a New Clan {Kikuyu). — This is a
proceeding which sometimes takes place in Kikuyu,
but which rarely comes to the notice of European
observers. It is called njama ya ruoro kucharua,
which means “ the assembly or council of the knife to
change,” and, expanded, means “ the ceremonial gather-
ing of the knife at which a man changes his clan.”
The word ruoro means the knife used for branding
cattle.

The candidate first makes an arrangement about the
matter with the senior elder of the clan he wishes to
enter; a day is fixed for the ceremony and the elder
summons the other elders of his clan and the candidate
brings his brothers. A number of elders belonging
to other elans are also invited as witnesses.

The candidate presents a razor {ruenji), some castor
oil, butter {ngoromo), and a ewe lamb {mwati) to the
elders of the clan he wishes to join, and the elders
of that clan provide a bullock. The bullock is
slaughtered and the skin is dried, this being for the
parties to sit on during the ceremony. The candidate
and the senior elder of the clan he wishes to enter then
sit on the bullock’s hide, and the elder’s senior wife
comes and shaves both their heads. When this is com-
pleted, they anoint each other’s head with the castor oil
and the butter. Each man collects and takes away the
hair cut off and carefully hides it so that no evilly

250

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 251

disposed person shall pick it up and make medicine
with it.

Henceforward the man is considered as adopted in
the new clan, and his children belong to that clan.
If he is a young man and wants a wife, the senior elder
of his new clan will buy him one, and if he is killed in
a tribal fight the elder claims the blood money.

If, after this ceremony, the elder was to commit
adultery with the wife of the adopted man he would
surely die.

If a daughter of the adopted man is married, the
elder gets five goats from the bridal price received for
the girl; these goats are called ugendi and possibly
have reference to cases in which the elder has paid the
bridal price for the wife of the adopted man.

A Kikuyu native does not, however, change his
circumcision guild by entering a new clan.

Njama y-a Kikende ceremony of adoption
is closely connected to a ceremony performed between
great friends ; this is a form of ceremonial brotherhood,
but the man who makes the alliance does not change
his clan, and if he is killed the blood money would go
to his own clan. In this case the elder kills a ram or
he-goat {thengi), which is skinned, and a piece of the
skin of the chest is cut off, whilst another elder cuts
out a bracelet of the skin and places it on the elder’s
right wrist and on the wrist of the man who wishes to
join in brotherhood with him.

The man who desires the brotherhood then presents
a gourd of beer to the elder ; the beer must be of two
kinds, viz., sugar-cane and honey-beer mixed. The
elder who cuts the bracelet also receives a gourd of
beer from the man.

On Bee-Keeping. — The A-Kamba are great bee-
keepers. When Europeans first visited the country
they found the industry fully established; as at the
present day, logs of wood were hollowed out and hung
in trees for bees to hive in. They periodically
collected the honey, brewed mead, and then threw

252 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

away the comb. The Government Officers have since
taught them to boil down the wax into cakes which can
be sold, and a large quantity is annually exported.

In Kitui when a man makes his first beehive he
does not hang it in a tree himself, but gets his uncle
to do so ; he believes that if he omitted to do this the
bees would not settle in it.

The owner of the beehive cannot cohabit with his
wife until he sees that a swarm of bees has settled in
the hive and is building there. Two nights after he is
satisfied that this is the case, he may resume his
marital relations.

If on his first visit of inspection he finds the hive
occupied, he brews beer and pours some on the ground
as a libation to the aiimu, or ancestral spirits.

In a season when there is a dearth of honey the
owners of the hives go to the woods in which they have
put their hives and sacrifice a goat; the meat is eaten,
and the blood, mixed with beer, is poured on the
ground as a propitiary libation to the aiimu to secure
a good honey crop. Among the Ulu A-Kamba the
ceremonial varies and is apparently more elaborate.

When a man has hollowed out the log of wood
which forms the beehive he takes a shaving or chip of
the wood which is called ikavu, and gives it to his
mother, who then cooks beans, pigeon peas and maize
in a pot and places the chip, ikavu, in the fire under the
pot to assist in cooking the food. If he has lost his
mother the ikavu is given to his wife, who cooks the
ceremonial meal.

When the food is boiled the villagers are summoned
to eat it. The beehive is then hung in a tree, and
when it is full the owner collects the honey and brings
it to his village. Before the honey can be mixed with
water to make beer or mead the owner of the hive must
present his mother with some of the raw honey.

When the first brew of the mead is ready the father
of the owner of the hive buys it for a goat, which may
not be killed. On the second night after the purchase.

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

253

the parents of the owner of the hive must cohabit ; this
in speaking to each other they refer to as kuzya mbui,
and if talking to another person, the term kulunga
mbui is used.

They believe that the consumption of the beer and
the succeeding ceremony ensures that the hive will
always yield a good supply of honey, and that there
will always be plenty of people to buy succeeding
brews of mead made from the honey. The whole
proceeding may therefore be considered as a magical
fertility ceremony.

If a man has lost his own parents, he sells the first
brew of mead to his uncle, presumably as head of the
family.

Among the Dorobo hunting tribe of the Kikuyu
escarpment when a man makes a new beehive, beer is
made and the old men and women drink it before it is
hung in a tree. They then ceremonially spit on the
hive and next morning place it in a tree ; the inside of
a hive is also smeared with beeswax to attract the bees.

The first crop of honey out of a new hive is only
eaten by the children of the village, or perhaps by very
old women. The reason of this is said to be that if a
young woman were to eat any and then misconduct
herself with a man, the honey crop would be spoilt and
the bees would not enter any of the hives hung up on
that day.

It is a well-known fact the natives always mark
their beehives before suspending them from the trees,
and the marks are generally of two kinds, one being that
of the clan and the other that of the owner. Mr A. C.
Hollis states that on the Southern Aberdare Range in
the bamboo forest between Karanja’s and Enjabini
he saw two musaiti trees (camphor wood, Ocotea
usambarensis) from which the Kikuyu make their honey
barrels or beehives. Although still standing, they were
both marked with the same designs one sees on
beehives.

The trees, it would appear, are earmarked by certain

254 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

persons for the manufacture of beehives while still
standing. Sketches of these marks are given below.
At first sight it seems curious to put the clan mark on
beehives, but the object is to warn a would-be thief
that if he robs a hive he will have to reckon with the
whole of the clan to which the owner belongs. F urther,
if a would-be thief found a hive belonging to his own
clan he would be very unlikely to rob it, as he could
always obtain honey or honey-beer from his blood kin,

KIKUYU BEEHIVE MARKS ON TREES

MARKS ON W-SIDE OF TREE MARKS ON E- SIDE OF TREE

ANJIRU CLAN MARKS

AIZIACENI CkAN MARKS

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

255

Infectious Manta 'among the Kamba People.- — In
“ Ethnology of A-Kamba/’ p. lo, reference was made
to a peculiar kind of infectious possession or mania
which appears periodically in Ukamba country, and in
1906 many young people in Machakos district were
seized with it at the sight of a European hat. In a few
months, however, it passed away, but in 1911 a similar
epidemic recurred. This took a different form, and
was called Engai ya mwetetu, or the spirit of the girl.
The spirit of a girl who was said to have died
mysteriously was supposed to enter into people in
various parts of the district — generally old women — •
and speak. The whole district rapidly became
disturbed; the spirit, through its oracles, demanded
that bullocks should be slaughtered ; the order was
implicitly obeyed, for anyone who refused was
supposed to be doomed. As a result, several
thousand bullocks were slaughtered and consumed in
a week or two. Great dances, at which the meat was
eaten, were held. Very soon the oracles became
seditious, and plans were being made for the abolition
of European government and attack on the Govern-
ment station. The whole thing was kept secret at first,
but eventually it all came out and a company of troops
had to be sent to the district to calm the excited people ;
the elders, who felt sore at the loss of so many cattle,
rallied to the support of law and order and the country
gradually regained a normal state.

The phenomenon is also known in Kitui, but is
said to have been introduced from the Machakos
district. Mr C. Dundas has investigated it in the
former district and states that when people wish to
misrepresent the nature of any dances held in this
connection they refer to them as kilumi. Now kilumi
is an old Kamba dance which is periodically performed
at ithembo all over the country with the object of
warding off epidemics, but the Engai dances are
carried on at villages to cure an individual possessed
by the form of mania known as Engai. Fez caps and

256 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

other unusual ornaments and clothing worn at Engai
dances are not worn at kilumi dances. The word
Engai appears to be loosely used in this connection,
but this is possibly due to the fact that the individual
organising the dance is supposed to be a person
possessing occult powers, a person, in short, who knows
the inner mysteries or who would not otherwise possess
the “ medicine ” which is supposed to come from Engai.

As far as is known, this Engai possession appears
to be almost entirely confined to women. A woman
becomes mysteriously possessed ; the medicine man
cannot account for it. A woman who understands the
affection is therefore called in and orders the
appropriate dance to be performed. The performers
become worked up and wildly excited, and many of
them become affected and the disease spreads, although
the afflicted person for whom the dance was convened
may be cured. When the people are worked up to a
pitch of frenzy, the leader of the dance then demands
a bullock, beer, and a goat from the head elder, and
these are consumed by the performers.

Women who organise these dances have been seen
and interviewed by the writer and they generally
appear to be stupid and half-witted, and one would
not suspect that they were capable of influencing the
people as they undoubtedly do. When they have
worked themselves up into a kind of hypnotic state
they may possibly be different. One great idea at
these dances is that everyone must shake hands with
the woman, and for this privilege she is given sixpence
or more. The people believe that if this be omitted,
they will be permanently afflicted with a spirit^ they
do not apparently mind temporary possession, but fear
its becoming a permanency. The payments appear
to be peculiar to Kitui.

The elders do not approve of these dances, but are
generally too frightened to intervene. The reason of
their disapproval is not far to seek; every woman who
becomes possessed is told to demand something from

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

257

her husband or the mania will not leave her. The
women generally ask for fez caps and clothes which
are worn at subsequent dances; one elder told Mr
Dundas that his wife had demanded the tails of ten
white cows. They dress in white and red clothes,
consisting of deep bands worn round the waists, and
have fez caps on their heads and cows’ tails suspended
from their arms. The women who conduct the
ceremony are termed Siekitundumu ; the meaning of
kitundumu is thunder. One of the chants sung on
such an occasion was translated as : “ We have come
from a comet and one day we will return there to stay
with Siekitundumu.” When a woman shakes hands
with the leader she is seized with a kind of convulsion
and says, “ I am Siekitundumu.” The speeches of the
women appear to be devoid of meaning; they will
attempt to use English words in particular, calling out
“ Y esu'' and So-and-so is said to be the children of
“ Y esu,” or one will be asked who she is and she will
mention the name of some European or other.
“ Y esu ” — Mr Dundas thinks — may be either a
corruption of the English “ Yes ” or it may be a con-
traction of “Jesus” as pronounced by the German
missionaries, or it may be a corrupt pronunciation of
the Swahili word “ kisu” which means a knife, and
which the A-Kamba are inclined to pronounce
kyesu.

It is also said that those who participate in the
dance must keep their eyes fixed on the ground ; they
are otherwise supposed to be liable to fly up to the
heavens.

The woman called the Siekitundumu has a chondo
(string bag) full of medicines carried in small gourds.
No one may look at these magical properties without
paying. The medicines are said to be made by a kind
of ghoul who has only one hand and one leg and who
lives above. These mysteries work the credulous and
susceptible women into a state of frenzy, when they
cease to be responsible for their actions. One chief,

R

258 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

with some pathos, stated that women who have been to
one of these dances often go back home and beat their
husbands.

The principal Siekitundumu in Kitui is said to
be one Monge wa Muli. She and her husband
assembled all the people at the village of the chief
Muli and told them to collect food and other gifts.
The elders had to pay a bull and a black goat. On a
certain day the bull was killed and its blood poured
into a large hole in the ground and mixed with meal,
milk, and grain. Monge then announced that she
would transfer the Engai to a particular village. She
selected certain able-bodied women, who ran into the
bush with a fowl, shouting that they were sending
“ Engai ” to Muli’s village, the fowl being left in the
bush. A few days later a woman in Muli’s village
was, of course, seized with the Engai mania and the
dance had to be performed there. Thus the affection
is spread throughout the district. After a time, either
the Government or the combined elders take steps to
stop it by drastic measures and it dies down for a while,
possibly for a year or two, but at any time it is liable
to recur and it is then necessary for the administration
to keep a sharp look out for its appearance.

The whole phenomenon rather reminds one of the
ancient accounts of demoniacal possession. Accord-
ing to Goodrich Freer a peculiar kind of possession,
called bonda, is said to attack women in Abyssinia.
Here again all their demands for dress, food, and
trifles of any sort must be strictly attended to. They
sometimes mimic a hyaena.

Sundry Beliefs

Slaughter of Pregnant Animals. — The A-Kamba
may not wilfully kill an animal heavy with young when
hunting, and certainly would not slaughter a domestic
animal in this condition. Should, however, such an

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

259

animal happen to be killed by mistake, the uterus is
opened to discover the sex of the foetus. In cutting up
the uterus the hunter will hold a few blades of grass
in his hand, together with the knife, at the same time
grasping the wrist of the hand holding the knife with
the other hand. If there are two men, the second man
will grasp the wrist of the other while he cuts open the
uterus.

If the foetus is male it is unlucky, and if female it
is lucky. The killing of the mother in this condition
must, however, have been done unwittingly.

This curious custom appears to be common to all
the Kamba people.

Eclipses. — These are said to be the work of Engai
(or the high god) and to be an omen of a sickness in
the land. The head of each village has to take two
children and a goat, which is lead round the outside of
the village, and when it reaches the gate, an elder cuts
a piece out of one ear and lets the animal return to the
village. They then smear it with ia (Kamba) ira
(Kikuyu), or white earth — on its face, along its stomach,
and along its back to the tail.

Lunar Changes. — The Kikuyu people have no
theories as to the nature of the sun or moon, but believe
that the sun and moon are constantly at war with each
other and that the moon is always beaten and driven
away. After a time she regains her strength and
returns to the fight.

Food {Kitui). — The Kamba of Kitui state that
they cannot eat the meat of hyasna, jackal, serval
cat, hunting dog, crocodile, snakes, kites, vultures,
marabou stork, ducks, geese, crows, rats, or even
eggs. A few will sometimes eat a little of the flesh
of lions and leopards, probably on the grounds of
sympathetic magic, i.e., with the idea of assimilating
the strength and agility of these beasts. Baboon,
monkey, and donkey meat are also eaten by some.

Food Ceremonial {Kikuyu). — If an ox is killed for
a feast and a member of the same clan, who happens to

260 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

live at a distance, puts in an appearance, he must be
given a piece of meat, although he cannot claim to share
in the feast.

If an ox is killed on the occasion of a wedding, the
members of the clan living in the neighbourhood are
always invited to participate.

Women eat separately inside the huts and out of
sight of the men, but can drink water or beer in the
presence of men.

Small children naturally feed with their mothers, but
once the boys are circumcised they no longer eat with
women.

A curious custom was recently noticed during a
journey among the Kikuyu. The desiccated carcase of
a cow or ox was noticed in the branches of a tree by
the roadside, a little distance from a village, and it
appears that if cattle are lodged at the village of a
friend and one should die, the owner is informed, and
is asked to come over and see it and remove the meat.
If for some reason or other he does not come the carcase
is hoisted into a tree so that all may see it. The object
of this is that people may know that the beast was not
surreptitiously killed and eaten by the people of the
village, and no claim can then be lodged against them
by the owner.

Names Among the Kikuyu. — Every Kikuyu child
receives two proper names. If a male, his first name
is that of the paternal grandfather, thiga, and if a female
that of the maternal grandmother, chuchu. In the case
of a male the second name is that of the father.

In addition he generally receives another name at
the time of circumcision ; this is considered as a nick-
name, and generally refers to some peculiarity of
character, habits, or physique.

For instance, a boy will be called kichuru because
he was said to drink a large amount of gruel as a child.
If the lobe of a man’s ear is broken he is called
kachuru ; if he happens to break a finger he is called
kara.

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

261

The names are derived from animals such as nugu —
a baboon, njovu — an elephant, hiti — hyaena, ngui —
a dog.

From names of natural objects, such as kamiti —
trees, kegio — a wild hibiscus used by the Kikuyu for
making fibre, higa — stone, meriwa — a thorn, wa-rui —
a stream, kirima — a hill.

From names of weapons such as kiiimu — a spear
(used of a tall thin man), kakiu — a sword, njuguma — a
club.

CHAPTER VI

LEGENDS

Legend of Kilui Lake {Kamba of Kibwezi). — K few
miles below Kibwezi Station there is a small lake called
Kilui which is believed to be haunted by numerous
spirits. The author recently had occasion to visit the
place and, seeing a crocodile, shot it ; the crocodile was
badly hit, but, as usual, managed to struggle back into
the water. The Kamba porters were afterwards heard
to say that it was a good thing that it was not killed as
the master would have been taken sick and probably
died. The local elders, however, were questioned on
the subject later on, but denied that any evil effects
were likely to supervene. They stated that the place
was undoubtedly full of spirits, as a long time ago
there was a large village on the site of the lake, and, one
day, a terrible rain storm occurred during which a frog
entered one of the huts ; the housewife on seeing it
told one of her children to throw it out, and this having
been done, the frog then went to another hut where the
same thing occurred, and so on at the third, but at the
fourth hut the wife, however, said, “ Oh, it is doing
no harm, let it stay.” Thereupon the frog said to her,
“ You have given me shelter and so listen to my words
— take your children and flee from this village without
delay for it will disappear.” She had the sense to obey
this wonderful warning and had only gone a short
distance when the whole village sank below the
water.

The place was also supposed to possess a large

262

LEGENDS

263

sacred snake, and it is said that the manager of a
neighbouring rubber plantation shot this reptile and
cut down a sacred tree near by. This man having
died of dysentery a few months later, the natives
were convinced that his death was directly due to
the ancestral spirits avenging such sacrilegious
actions.

The Kibwezi River flows along an old valley carved
through the metamorphic rocks, but in recent geological
times a sheet of lava came down the valley from the
Chyulu Mountains and choked its flow. It appears
from under a lava-bed near the railway station and
runs for about three-quarters of a mile, and then dis-
appears entirely and reappears in three sources, joining
up at Kilui Lake. The eruptions which caused this
are of so recent a date that quite possibly the legend
above narrated may be founded on fact and may
contain some vestige of the record of an actual
occurrence during the last phases of volcanic activity
in this region.

In the author’s book on the A-Kamba, p. 167,
mention was made of a haunted hill in the Kibwezi
region; it is of volcanic origin, and is regarded with
great awe by the people. It is called Chumbi and is
situated near the south end of the Chyulu Range on the
eastern side. There are two small hills, one being bush
covered, and the other so recent that no bush has yet
taken root on it. It is said by some that the latter was
only formed some fifty years ago. The people will only
discuss it with those whom they know very intimately,
but it is said that a rhythmic beat, attributed to the
female spirits crushing corn in mortars and keeping time
with each other, can be heard, as one approaches the
place. If, however, a native could be persuaded to
guide one there, it would be probably found that this
rhythmic beat is due to the sound of a pulsating steam
vent. It is also said that when an intruder approaches
the hill a rushing wind comes and sweeps him up into
the hill and he is never seen again. The first native

264 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

who told a European about this awesome place is said
to have sickened and died shortly afterwards.

Legend Regarding Origin of Fire. — The Kikuyu
have a curious folk tale concerning the origin of fire.
This has now become merely a fairy-tale told to
children.

A long time ago a man borrowed a spear, katimu,
from a neighbour to kill a porcupine which was destroy-
ing his crops. He lay in wait in the field and eventu-
ally speared one, but it was only wounded and ran off
with the spear in its body and disappeared down a
burrow. He went to the owner and told him that the
spear was lost, but the owner insisted on having it back.
Whereupon, the man bought a new spear and offered
it to the owner in place of the lost weapon, but the
owner refused it and again insisted on the return of
the original spear. The man then proceeded to crawl
down the porcupine burrow, and having crawled a long
way found himself eventually, to his surprise, in a
place where many people were sitting about cooking
food by a fire. They asked him what he wanted and
he told them of his errand. They then invited him to
stay and eat with them; he was afraid and said he
could not stay as he must go back with the spear which
he saw lying there. They made no effort to keep him,
but told him to climb up the roots of a mugumu tree,
which penetrated down into the cavern, and said that
he would soon come out into the upper world. They
gave him some fire to take back with him. So he took
the spear and the fire and climbed out as he was told.

This is said to be the way fire came to man ; before
that people ate their food raw.

When the man reached his friends he returned the
spear and said to the owner, “ You have caused me a
great deal of trouble to recover your spear, and if you
want some of this fire which you see going away into
smoke, you will have to climb up the smoke and get it
back for me.” The owner of the spear tried and tried
to climb the smoke but could not do it, and the elders

LEGENDS

265

then came and intervened and said, “ We will make the
following arrangement : fire shall /be for the use of all,
and because you have brought it you shall be our
chief.”

The underworld referred to in this tale is called
A/iri ya mikeongoi.

CHAPTER VII

DANCES

Kikuyu, — There are, according to trustworthy authori-
ties, a large number of Kikuyu dances. It is difficult
to give an exhaustive list of these, as it has been impos-
sible to trace them all. The word ngoma (a dance,
Swahili) has such a very wide meaning that it is diffi-
cult to say where dances begin or end.

A girl must not refuse to dance when called upon to
do so by the anake (warrior class) ; if she does so she
may be beaten by them and her parents cannot inter-
fere. Generally, in such cases, a mwan-ake will
deprive her of her ornaments and she cannot then
dance until she gets them back. The mwanake who
takes the ornaments cannot keep them, but must divide
them with the other anake. If he breaks them he has
to make uji (gruel) for the other anake \ if he hurts the
girl when taking her ornaments he has to pay a goat
to the elders, but her parents get nothing.

The principal dances of the anake are connected
with harvest and crops ; the most important of these is
the Kivata dance. In this only certain rikas, or age
grades, may take part ; at present only the rikas named
Kincheku, Kamandu, Kanyeta, and Mutungu dance the
Kivata, while the rikas of Sengenge, Matiha, Njarege,
Kangei, and Makiomei are not allowed to join in.
Formerly the junior rikas were not even permitted to
look on, but now they do so and frequently try to take
part in the same ; which leads to fierce fights and not a

266

L i S

O

y.

•A

Ivl KTYU.

ICIVATA DANCK AT KYAAIIH

DANCES

267

few deaths. The elders are therefore much against this
dance, and have often forbidden it. Formerly if the
elders wished to prohibit a dance they would go to a
place where it was to be held, and lay a cooking pot
on the ground; a branch of the mugere tree was
stuck beside it, and the anake could not dance there
unless they were returning from a raid on enemy’s
country.

This custom is still practised, for in Kyambu dis-
trict a few years ago the elders for some reason wished
to prevent a Kivata dance, and they resorted to the old
rite.

Kivata is danced when the mawele grain is reaped.
The dancers wear no clothes whatsoever ; they are
ornamented with a large inverted crown of ostrich
feathers which is slung from the forehead to the back
of the head. Strings of beads and bells are hung about
the body, and plumes of colobus monkey fur are tied
below the knees. In many cases the face is covered
completely with yellow colouring, the loins being like-
wise adorned ; others affect various colours in stripes
and dots. The legs and arms are also coloured. The
weapons carried are mostly swords and clubs ; very few
have spears, but the younger rikas, who look on,
generally have spears. Their faces are often decorated
with a broad red stripe drawn across the face and out-
lined with white dots.

The dancers march round in rows of from six to
eight, the dancing consisting mainly in a continued
jumping from one foot to the other. The women bring
gourds of uji, or gruel, which they give to the dancers
and thereby signify their affections. The dance is
said to be a general occasion for choosing brides by old
men as well as by anake.

Many of the onlookers (not the younger rikas) run
madly round the whole circle, brandishing swords and
leaping into the air. The name of the dance is said
to be derived from this.

Even the old men who are spectators become

268 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

infected with the spirit of the dance, cast off their
blankets and trot round the outside of the circle. In
fact it appears to be essential to discard clothing, for
if one omits to do so he is censured by his fellows.
The women also follow the men with shrill cries, but
otherwise they take no part.

At one of these dances several girls were noticed
amusing themselves by a game exactly similiar to one
played by children in Europe, and which consists in
clapping hands. This is called Amukiana.

When the njahe or cajanus bean is planted the
Mugoyo is danced. This dance is held at night when
there is no moon, and is one of the most picturesque
dances of the country. A circle of fires is made and
maintained by men appointed for the purpose, and
round the outside of this circle stand the dancers.
Richly smeared with red earth and fat as they are, the
fire heightening the blaze of red, the whole scene is
intensely bright in the darkness. The men stand with
their backs to the fire, each holding his partner, who
stands with her feet on his. Their faces and legs are
slightly coloured, but the girls use no colouring beyond
the red mixed with fat. Forming a diameter across the
circle stands another row of dancers. The leader of
the maribeta (song or verse) goes about and the rest
join in the chorus. Excepting for a slight movement
of the shoulders among the dancers the whole dance
has an air of quietness which is presumably intentional.
There are masters of ceremony who go about and
check noisy persons, preserving general quiet and the
regular formation of the circle. Their methods are
simple and effective : two firebrands are struck together
over offending couples, and a shower of sparks thus
quickly calls them to order. All the men are naked
but elaborately ornamented ; unfortunately the vulgarity
of civilisation too often mars the beauty of this
picturesque scene. One smart youth has dangling on
his back an advertisement for sardines, another a gaudy
scriptural text, and others, similar cheap articles of

DANCES

269

European origin. Occasionally the figure of the dance
varies — the men turn facing the fire and bump up and
down on their heels; another time they kneel joining
hands on spears held horizontally which they sway to
the rhythm of the song. The song is not startlingly
comprehensible: “We went to Juja and saw a white
ostrich, so we put its feathers on our heads,” and such
like. The girls also join in the chorus, while the men
now and again make a curious gulping sound produced
from the throat. Finally at midnight, or later, the
dance breaks up : each mwanake takes a firebrand, and
the country is soon dotted in every direction with small
spots of fire.

At such a dance a man was seen carrying a clay
figure of the kind described by Mr Routledge. It was
not, however, part of the ceremony, and the man who
was carrying it in his hand was not dancing. This
image is a common feature in dances, but its signi-
ficance is not known even to the people themselves.
Judging from Mr Routledge’s description, therefore,
the figure must either have lost its meaning among
the Kikuyu west of the Chania, or it must have
acquired a new and increased significance in the
Kenya area.

Another dance connected with the crops is
Kichukia, which is held when the mawele is six to eight
inches high. It is danced both at night when there is
a moon, and in the daytime. The author has not seen
this dance. It must not be confounded with Njukia,
which is called thus because the girls do not choose the
song. Both are danced by girls and anake together ;
the latter dance is held about the month of July, and
in the morning only.

Muzogo. — This is also danced by anake and girls
on dark nights by firelight, and is very similar to the
Mugoyo both in name and character, but is danced
when the maize is nearly ripe.

One of the most important dances for young men is
N guru. In 1912 it was held all over the district in the

270 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

month of September ; it does not seem to be in any way
connected with crops, but denotes rather a time of
rest and leisure while there is no work in the field. It
is danced by young men and boys only, but the latter
are said to join merely for instruction ; anyone may
look on. The dance commences with a sort of
“ follow my leader ” march, after which there is
continued jumping up and down with great vigour,
although the heels are not lifted off the ground. A
continuous song is maintained by one man ; there is
no chorus. The dance somewhat resembles Kivata,
but the body painting is much less profuse. No spears
are carried, but among the people east of the Ruiru
River it is customary to dance with shields, which,
during the march, are held aloft over the head. Sticks
with wisps of fur are carried. A curious feature is the
wearing of skin apron flaps such as are worn by women ;
when the season for this dance is over these coverings
are given to small girls to wear.

The main feature of this dance is the eating of meat
by the dancers and elders. Everyone who dances
must contribute to the cost of buying bulls to supply
the meat which is eaten in common by the dancers at
a hut built near a river. The dancing which takes
place at different villages goes on day by day until the
meat is finished ; the bladders of the slaughtered beasts
are very common articles of decoration in the dance.
The elders, if they contribute, are given a share of the
meat, which they eat apart from the young men. In
the eastern part of Kikuyu meat-eating is not a part of
the N guru dance, but at the same time of the year
several men, both old and young, club together and buy
meat which is eaten at a common meal ; this custom is
called kiruga.

At this time people are supposed to lose strength,
and therefore require good nourishing ; this is said
to be tlie reason for the custom. It appears,
therefore, to be a general time for feasting all over
Kikuyu.

DANCES

271

This dance is said by Mr Routledge to be one
held by warriors before going to war, but this can
hardly be so seeing that it is performed at a fixed season
in the year. If it were so it must be a relic of a very
old custom, when possibly the tribe had a favourite time
for raiding.

There is thus a continual round of dances for the
anake, and they continue for a fixed period. One
should therefore be able to reckon the seasons by the
dances, but as a matter of fact they may be very
irregularly held. For instance in 1912 most of the
dances, Kivata in particular, were quite out of season,
and this was only owing to the previous heavy rains in.
which the people could not dance. The anake will,
however, have their dances, and if the season is
unsuitable they will dance it at another time. It is
probable that the significance of the dance as connected
with the crops is beginning to be lost. In this
connection it is interesting to note that although there
is a great difference in the seasons prevailing in the
highlands and the lowlands, the dances are mostly
held at the same period all along one ridge. It thus
happens that the highlanders are often completely out
of season in their dances. The fact is that the Fort
Hall Kikuyu give the lead, and the dances spread west-
ward so that the lowlanders even in Kyambu may not be
dancing quite at the proper season. Fort Hall is,
on the whole, the authority for the Kikuyu customs,
whether because it is the birthplace of the tribe
or not, one cannot say, but the lead given by Fort
Hall is analogous to that given by Machakos to
the Kamba of Kitui. These facts give a curious
instance of how a custom may lose its meaning ;
we have here an example of a custom superseding its
own origin.

The uncircumcised boys and girls are called ire go.
Their principal dance is N goisia. There is no
particular season for this, and it is danced both in the
daytime and at night; in the former case anyone may

272 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

watch it, but at night only the inmates of the village
in which it is held may be present.

Before the circumcision feasts a dance called
Kibuiya is danced by circumcised and uncircumcised
boys. It is so called because of the buffalo horns
worn by the boys, but this dance is now said to be
practically extinct, mainly because they cannot get
buffalo horns.

For women there are two dances which are:

Getiro — This is a marriage dance and is held first
at the bride’s village and in the evening at the bride-
groom’s village.

Ndumo — This is danced by women at the close of
the Kikuyu year. It takes place in a village, but
anyone may be present.

In Kikuyu the elders have only one dance, called
Muihungwei, which they dance together with the
women ; its name is said to be derived from the
nodding of the head in the dance. Only elders can
dance it, and a woman cannot join unless her husband
is entitled to dance. It is held in an open space
outside a village.

Mr Routledge mentions three other dances, but he
was probably misled by the words used. Two of these,
Keoana and Kuinenera, are verbs meaning to dance
or sing. The third, Ndorothi, is the name given to a
stick carried by youths at circumcision feasts. It is
topped with a tuft of colobus monkey fur and is carried
until the evening before the ceremony. On that
evening, all those about to be circumcised race to a
mugumu tree and throw the Ndorothi sticks at the foot
of the tree.

At the time of circumcision there is, again, the
Mambura dance. The boys travel about the country,
their bodies painted white, and wearing curious wooden
shields on their arms above the elbow.

Natives, of course, often sing either in chorus or
singly, and at any time ; such songs are also called
ngoma. On one occasion the author met a man who

KIKUYU.

CIRCUMCISION SHIELD WITH ANTHROPOMORl’HIC FIGURES.

METHOD OF CARRYING THE CIRCI'MCISION SHIELD.

DANCES

273

was a sort of primitive travelling minstrel. It was his
vocation in life to go about the country singing songs,
for which people gave him a few cents. The natives
said that he was the only man known to do this, and he
was therefore perhaps rather a freak.

S

CHAPTER VIII

WOMEN AS A FACTOR IN TRIBAL ORGANISATION

Although far from negligible, the part played by
women in the life of a savage tribe is very apt to be
overlooked by a man. The reasons are obvious; the
African woman is not obtrusive ; she is perpetually
busy, and one rarely comes into contact with her.
Her inner thoughts and beliefs are a sealed book to the
investigator, and one is at first inclined to believe that
her influence is not worth consideration. The longer
the experience, the more clearly one realises that
this lack of information about the woman is one of the
weak points of any inquiry.

Among the Kikuyu there is a council, or kiama^
of old women in every district ; they collect goats
periodically and present them to the elders of ukmu,
or priestly class. They occasionally fine troublesome
women, and the fine, usually a goat, has to be obtained
by the culprit either by extra work or by begging one
from her father. The men fear the women’s kiama,
as it is believed that the members of it have the power
to bewitch people.

It is to be regretted that so little is known about the
methods of initiation and the scope of their activities
in this direction, but complete information could
only be obtained by a female investigator who has
exceptional opportunity and great sympathy.

The official recognition of the wife of a candidate
for admission into the grade of ukuru among the
Kikuyu has been described at another place. This is
unusual in African ritual, but can readily be understood

274

WOMEN AS A FACTOR

275

when one learns that old women, past the child-
bearing age, can participate in sacrificial ceremonies
at the sacred trees. This is due to the fact that the
growth of cereal and other vegetable food falls to the
woman, and they alone are responsible for the food of
the family.

This leads to great difficulty, as the women are
intensely conservative, and when an energetic district
officer wishes to improve the economic products of his
district and distribute better seeds he is invariably up
against the opposition of the women, which is very
difficult to overcome. The woman knows by long
experience that, given a certain area, a certain seed,
and a certain rainfall she can feed the family, and one
can understand that she should be loth to waste labour
on experiments, the result of which is doubtful. This
feeling is very deep-rooted, and consequently most
difficult to overcome : the same obstacles are met with
in connection with the introduction of big European
hoes for agriculture. The African woman has for
generations done her planting with either a digging
stick or the small African hoe ; the tiresome European
comes along and worries the men to buy the big heavy
hoe, and one can hear the annoyed woman inquiring
of her husband why she is being bothered to give up
the implement she has been brought up to use with
one hand, for a strange thing which is more expensive
and requires two hands. For all that, however, the
European hoe is making good progress, and will
eventually win. It is hoped that this, and the intro-
duction of ox-drawn ploughs, will result in the male
section of the population taking a more active part in
agriculture, and alleviating the lot of the women. It is
believed that if instructors could be detailed to travel
about and demonstrate the benefits of utilising oxen to
plough, women would soon champion the cause of
progress.

The male African in his home life is not noted for
persistent steady work ; the women, on the other hand,

276 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

are never idle, and are withal cheerful and uncomplain-
ing about their lot, and not nearly so down-trodden as
some people believe. In most tribes they are well-
treated ; their lot among the Masai is probably harder
than among agricultural tribes ; the old women have to
go on watch at night in the cattle kraal and often get
beaten if they fall asleep. In Kavirondo, on the other
hand, the mother of the head of the village is often the
most important person in the village, and her opinion is
generally sought even on political matters which lie
outside the ordinary sphere of a woman’s influence ; the
affection of the Kavirondo for their mothers is, however,
a very marked trait in their character. Among the
A-Kamba the fact that manifestations from the spirit
would nearly always come through the mouths of
women undoubtedly proves that the sex plays an
important part in the life of the people. The fact that
in both Ukamba and Giriama old women have in recent
years turned out to be at the bottom of serious political
agitation also demonstrates this point. The influence
of a woman over her children is the same all the world
over, but owing to the long period of lactation prevalent
in African society, and possibly among any polygamous
community, the African mother might be expected to be
more tied by her children than a European mother ;
such, however, is not the case, and the baby is taken
everywhere with the mother — to market, to the field,
out into the bush when firewood has to be gathered,
and to the river or water-hole. The first separation is
when the small boy first goes out to herd the goats ; the
small girl stays on with her mother and trots by her
side and assists her in her various duties. This
continues until the boy is promoted to herd cattle and
then goes out into the wider world and comes into
contact with civilising influences and European pro-
gress which cannot fail to enlarge his horizon and
increase his knowledge of men and affairs. The girl,
however, stays on with her mother in the narrow life of
an African village. The difference of environment at

WOMEN AS A FACTOR

277

the formative stage of life is thus ever producing a
great disparity between the mental development of the
two sexes, and must, as time goes on, prove more and
more a disturbing factor in tribal life.

Owing to the marriage value of girls their parents
are loth to allow them to go far from home; the
missionaries complain of this as one of their greatest
difficulties. Boys can be attracted to the missions for
instruction, but it is very difficult to induce parents to
allow their daughters to go to school. The old
women say that if they go to school their heads will be
turned, that they will want to be fine ladies, as the
saying goes, and will not take kindly to agriculture,
the collection of firewood, and other household duties.
There is probably a large amount of truth in the
accusation, for education would undoubtedly open their
eyes to the life of drudgery they lead ; they would, as
far as physical labour goes, have an easier time while
at a mission, and would feel the return to a harder life.
The whole question is a problem which time alone can
solve, and a proper adjustment of the sphere of
activity of the two sexes will take many years.

It may be of some interest to review the class of
work which is the special duty of the women. Their
primary duty may be said to be the raising of food,
be it in the form of grain, beans, bananas, sweet
potatoes, etc. They sow, they tend the fields during
the growth of the crop, and then reap the grain, thresh
it, store it, crush it in wooden mortars, and grind it into
meal. In most tribes the clearing of the bush and the
heavy work of breaking up new ground devolves on
the men, and in Kavirondo the men assist to a great
extent in actual agriculture. Where natives irrigate,
this branch of agriculture is always in the hands of the
men.

As the producers of food, it naturally becomes the
duty of the women to make the supply of beer for the
family. In Kikuyu young girls crush the sugar cane in
mortars made out of a log of wood with round holes in

278 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

it, and they then squeeze out the sweet sap and brew
the beer. They understand the art of malting grain
and the manufacture of beer from cereals.

Having grown the food, the cooking of it naturally
falls to them; they know the wild green herbs which
are used as green food, particularly in times of scarcity,
and the wild edible roots which are sought for at such
periods.

The collection of firewood to cook the food and
the transport of the water used also falls to the
women.

The manufacture of the cooking pots and other
household utensils is generally women’s work. In
Uganda, however, it is as a rule done by men. Smith’s
work is never done by women, this industry being a
monopoly of man; there would be a prejudice against
any arms or weapons made by women, and by analogy
it is therefore believed that the persons who made the
stone implements which we are beginning to find in
Africa were men.

The collection of honey and the manipulation of
bees is also never done by women.

The basket work used in the villages is almost
always made by women, and also sleeping mats. The
rule is, however, not invariable, for an old influential
elder in Giriama was recently seen plaiting a mat,
possibly because he was too infirm to do more active
work. The string bags, singular, chondo, plural,
vyondo, used by the A-Kamba are always made by the
women.

Wood cutting or rude carpentry is the work of the
men ; if bedsteads are used they are made by the men,
also the ornamental staves and stools so extensively
used.

If skin garments are worn, the woman will bray the
goat skins she wears and that in which she carries her
child. When the men have not reached the blanket
stage they usually go naked or wear an ox hide, and
this they generally prepare themselves.

WOMEN AS A FACTOR 279

Leather work for weapons is always done by the
men.

In Uganda the bark cloth is made by men.

The bead work affected by some tribes is nearly
always done by the women, but in Kikuyu a young
dandy will often be seen sewing beads on to a bit of
hide.

Metal work used as ornament is always done by the
men ; the beautiful iron chain work of Ukamba is man’s
monopoly; any working in ivory, such as armlets, must
be done by men.

Each wife in an African family usually has
dedicated to her particular use a certain number of
cattle ; they are not her property, but she has the sole
disposal of their milk for the use of her children. The
adult A-Kamba and others also drink a considerable
amount of curdled milk, and each wife keeps a supply
for her husband and his friends.

To what extent women have assisted in the
domestication of animals is now a matter of some
conjecture, but there is little doubt that the men caught
the animals, probably young ones, when out on hunting
expeditions, and handed them over to the women to
rear. It is noticeable that among African tribes a
woman never owns live stock, and probably never did,
even in matriarchal times.

The women are largely responsible for the handing
on of the folk lore of a tribe and undoubtedly teach
it to their children, as is done in Europe to-day. The
men, however, often unconsciously help in this, for
at a friendly beer-drinking gathering elders will
recount folk tales, out of the stores of their experience,
to the assembled company, and one tale will remind
someone of another and he will try to cap the previous
story by one more wonderful.

Women have done a good deal, however, for the
development and blending of folk lore. In times
past when inter-tribal conflict was common, women were
frequently carried off and thus became incorporated

280 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

with another tribe; they carried their folk tales with
them, and unconsciously the stories, as well as the blood
of a tribe, became modified.

The influence of women in fixing a language must
not be overlooked ; the mother teaches it to her
children, not actively perhaps, but the young child is
in closest association with the mother and assimilates
her speech, and, of course, captured women will, if in
any number, bring foreign words with them, and may
be instrumental in their general adoption.

European women may consider that none of her
sisters, even in Africa, could willingly acquiesce in a
polygamous life ; such, however, is not the case. The
burden of life falls heavily on the African woman, and
she is, as a rule, only too pleased to welcome a new
wife to share her burden of work.

Several cases have been observed of women
worrying their husbands to take a second wife, and a
senior wife will often lodge a new wife in her hut until
she becomes settled down in the village and her own
hut is ready. There are doubtless quarrels, but, on
the whole, the family lives in amity and it is believed
that jealousy in the European sense does not loom
very large; fierce feeling is, however, sometimes
aroused if a husband unfairly favours one wife in the
allotment of cattle.

CHAPTER IX

SOME GENERAL REMARKS

The writer’s main object has been to demonstrate the
fact that the tribes under review possess a system of
natural religion more elaborate than was hitherto
suspected, and he must frankly admit that, although
living for some years in close touch with these natives,
he had no idea of the extent and variety of the
ceremonial connected with the tabu beliefs, sacrifice,
and other cognate branches of their beliefs. The light
which the inquiry has thrown upon the complex nature
of a native’s life is somewhat of a revelation. It
should serve as a warning to rash reformers who
consider that so-called pagan heathendom can be
abolished by a stroke of the pen. This attitude should
most certainly be avoided in Africa as much as in India.
The beliefs of an African are as real to him as those of
a Buddhist, although they may belong to different and
more primitive plane of thought.

The influence of the spirits, or the belief in their
influence which in fact comes to the same thing, is, as it
were, the real key to a close understanding of the native
mind.

The native mind is so permeated with these beliefs,
and they consequently have such a profound effect on
his actions that, until this point has been thoroughly
grasped, we are bound to be perpetually brought face
to face with absolute enigmas.

Progressive Europeans are at times apt to sneer
at native beliefs and to feel very impatient with them;

281

282 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

there is no doubt that, generally speaking, these beliefs
tend to check progress and development, as we under-
stand them. Although this cannot be denied, we must
not lose sight of the fact that, on the whole, they
undoubtedly act as moral restraints and perform in
very much the same way the functions which a
dogmatic religion fulfils among people of a higher
culture.

Even if Government formally abolished the cere-
monial by legislation, the belief would not be affected
one iota; each people has to reckon with its own
gods, and before the indigenous religion is officially
discountenanced, the ruling power must be sure that it
has something better and equally suited to the native
mind to put in the place of a faith it tries to displace.
Otherwise materialism will result, and the effect of this
negation of faith, and freedom from all moral restraint
upon a savage would be most disastrous.

There is practical evidence of this in the criminal
tendencies evinced by numbers of natives who have
drifted into the up-country towns in British East Africa
and cut themselves adrift from their tribal life. T o what
extent the progress of Christianity will supply discipline
and fit the spiritual needs of a people at this stage of
culture is not yet quite clear. While not opposing
missionary effort, it would therefore appear to be
imperative to study carefully their present beliefs and
not give the impression of trying to crush them ; at the
same time, with the influence based on the knowledge
acquired, the people could be gradually induced to
give up any repugnant features and retain the better
elements of their ritual.

It is not suggested that this is a policy of finality,
but it is important at this juncture to avoid the spread
of an impression that the Europeans have set out to
crush the deep-seated and cherished natural religion
which the natives now possess. The spread of an idea
of this character will do as much as anything to alienate
the sympathies of the blacks and may prove a cause of

SOME GENERAL REMARKS 283

serious antagonism. The need for higher philosophy
will gradually spread, but let the craving come from
within.

It is of great interest to note how readily the more
intelligent elders respond to inquiry into their beliefs
once they are convinced that it is undertaken in the
proper spirit, and nothing convinces them so much of
the bona fides of our administrative intentions as a
sympathetic study of their customs and a demonstration
of one’s knowledge of them.

It is therefore maintained that the study of these
questions is not merely academic but one of the greatest
practical value to the administrator, the missionary,
and the colonist, as well as the student.

It is interesting to show how these questions may
frequently affect the colonist. It is well known that
the Kikuyu people form the bulk of the labour supply
of the upland colonists in British East Africa, and
complaints are often received from employers of its
capricious nature. Upon investigation it was found
that, apart from the natural ebb and flow of this
supply, the charge of caprice was well founded, i.e.,
there were many cases of desertion, often without any
suspicion of ill-treatment ; further, in some cases it was
discovered that this desertion was traceable to a belief
on the part of the individual that it was necessary to go
away to get dawa, which is the general local synonym
for medicine, whether of the nature of drugs or magical
in character. The question then arose as to why such
frequent calls occurred, and it was a long time before
a definite clue could be obtained, but the principles
gradually unfolded and became clear and were found
to rest on the necessity of obtaining ceremonial puri-
fication to free the individual from either a thahu or the
impurity left by a death in the family, as has been
described in this work. It is in fact difficult at first to
believe how complex a native’s social life may be.
It may not be immediately obvious how a knowledge
of these beliefs can ameliorate the difficulty, but the

284 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

point is that if a man deserts without leave he breaks
his contract of service and dare not venture back for a
long time in case he should be identified and punished,
whereas if he knows that his master understands his
beliefs he will probably go and tell him and ask if he
can go away for a day or so and carry out the necessary
ceremonies, and will then usually come back. It may
be a little tiresome to the master, but the better feeling
and mutual confidence which is induced pays in every
way. This is not mere theory, for the men who do get
into close touch with their employees lose very few,
and can generally get more men than they require.
This is merely quoted as an example of the practical
value of ethnological inquiry in daily life, which after
all is not a bad working test.

The method employed in collecting the material
has been to discuss the questions with as many
responsible elders as possible, and compare and
correct the statements so obtained. It has been a work
of great interest, though often very tedious, but
probably more tedious to the informer than to the
recorder.

There is one warning which it is desired to impress
upon persons living in the country and who have
opportunities of research, and that is that the last word
has not been said upon these questions, and it is hoped
that these observations will only encourage further
research and the keenest criticism. It must be
remembered that very few of the ceremonials described
in this book have been witnessed by Europeans, and if
they have, they have not been observed and described
by eyes trained to note the important features, and it
may well happen that with the best intentions the elders
may have from time to time omitted some point which,
when accurately described, may throw a flood of light
upon an apparently obscure point in the ritual. This is
where the district officer and the missionary can, if they
choose, play such an important part; we have many
missionaries who possess a thorough knowledge of the

SOME GENERAL REMARKS

285

vernaculars of the tribes, and district officers who, if not
such good linguists, are in intimate touch with these
people; these men have many chances if they would
only train themselves for the task. Up to the time of the
war signs of a renaissance were not wanting, however,
and administrative officers and others were yearly
taking more and more scientific interest in their people,
and one of the missionary societies, it is said, formed a
committee for the study of native customs. It is to be
feared that the war has indirectly checked this branch
of scientific study, and the activities of many observers,
who before its occurrence promised to develop a flair
for this kind of research, have temporarily ceased. A
very marked need at present is greater sympathetic
appreciation from high quarters. Further, local
assistance with regard to the publication of observa-
tions is essential. Few signs of such support are,
however, visible at present in many of our colonies.
Missionary endeavour in this field is particularly
welcome, but if a word of advice will not be resented,
these observers must realise the necessity of caution in
collecting observations of pagan customs from persons
who have been for some time in close contact with their
teaching, which often has the effect of causing their
pupils to ridicule time-honoured ceremonial. More-
over, missionaries are, as a rule, only in close touch
with the rising generation who are not initiated in the
procedure, and have little to do with the elders of the
tribe.

CHAPTER X

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR

Although it may appear somewhat beyond the scope
of the foregoing inquiry, which was mainly conducted
before the war occurred to interrupt it, I consider that
it may be of interest to examine the effect of the great
world conflict on the native races, and to assess the
present position with regard to black and white in that
region.

The outbreak of war came as an unexpected shock
to the natives as a whole. The up-country tribes had
very little conception of the distinctions between the
various white races, and were somewhat puzzled by the
conflict. The coast people, who were in daily touch
with Germans and Austrians, were a little clearer, but,
of course, had no conception of the causus belli, and
although they knew that the daily lives of the two
sections were apart, yet they saw them mix at the clubs
and never dreamt that Europeans among themselves
ever resorted to arms. The internment of the enemy
subjects in Mombasa was the first material sign, and it
was hailed with acclamation by the Swahilis of Mom-
basa, who treasured up resentment at the arrogant
behaviour of the Germans prior to the war. The con-
flict was therefore a great blow to the solidarity of the
white race, but this effect was not immediately apparent.

On the whole the tribes behaved in an exemplary
manner, but enemy agents produced some active unrest
among a coast tribe which for some years past had been
unfavourably disposed towards Government.

286

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 287

Like most of our countrymen, the natives naturally
had no conception of the magnitude of the struggle or
its possible duration. They thought that it would be
over in a few months, and responded with alacrity to
calls for porters, and for recruits for the K.A.R, They
also made no demur to the numerous restrictions which
a war imposes on the people involved.

The war, however, dragged on year after year, the
calls for labour became more and more insistent, the
poor carriers suffered hardships and died in tens of
thousands, from the diseases inseparable from a
campaign in an unhealthy tropical region, dysentery
and pneumonia being the two main causes of death.

In a campaign of this character, where troops of
mixed races are employed, the close contact between
black and white is an undesirable and unavoidable
feature.

The black troops soon came to realise the physical
disabilities of the Europeans and their vulnerability.
They saw Europeans shot down and even bayoneted
by enemy black soldiers, they realised that very few
Europeans were crack shots, they noted the inferior
marching capacity of the white man, his inability to find
his way about in the bush unaccompanied by a native
guide, and in some cases they even saw that the courage
of the white was not greater than that of the black.
After all this can it be wondered that the prestige of the
white race has suffered in the war ! Is it surprising that
the attitude of many of the blacks to the white m,an has
altered ?

The black has always been quick to realise who is
in authority and who is not, and will still accede out-
ward respect to a representative of the Government,
but that is not the test, and the real criterion is his
attitude towards the ordinary farmer or settler ; this has
been considerably modified during the war, and it is
doubtful if the old traditional wide respect of white by
black can ever be entirely restored.

The might of the Government has been demon-

288 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

strated during the war to an unheard of extent, and to
some extent Government has unconsciously traded on
this impression, for it has boldly imposed restrictions on
the black, and a degree of taxation which it would have
hesitated to do before the war.

There are two schools of thought in existence
regarding the governance of the black races in East
Africa.

(1) This school claims to be progressive, and
favours the abolition of tribal control by its indigenous
constitution ; it is opposed to chiefs, tribal law and
customs, and is in favour of direct government by
European magistrates and by police.

(2) The conservative school aims at retaining and
strengthening the internal forces which control a tribe,
at the same time promoting an evolution of the
character of that control by inducing the native leaders
to slough the more repugnant customs and beliefs.

The former scheme receives considerable support
from the settler community on the grounds that it will
result in the native, conjointly with themselves, playing
a more active part in the development of Africa. It is
also supported to some extent by the missionaries, who
feel that the disintegration of the old order would
afford them greater chances for their propaganda. At
the same time the probable effect of the dissolution of
tribal control is rarely realised. The nearest example
of such emancipation can be observed in the larger
towns, and here we have thousands of natives attracted
to these places by the desire to earn money. They have
no natural authorities in control, and although there are,
of course, respectable members in these assemblages,
taking it all round they are the biggest collection of
native ruffians in the country, and are saturated with
every vice. Consequently in spite of a concentration
of magisterial and police control far in excess of any-
thing in a native reserve, crime of every kind is rife,
and they have become an increasing menace to the
European residents.

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 289

These town colonies of natives, it must be
remembered, are products of our own creation, and do
not argue well for native emancipation from their
natural leaders.

The native system of government is admittedly
faulty^ not so much in design as in execution; this is
partly due to the fact that the blood kin of a criminal
will go to great lengths to shield him, and pardy
because chiefs and elders are often venial or amenable
to threats or to fear of witchcraft.

Native custom has in recent years been purged of
many of its repugnant features, and any that exist will
steadily tend to disappear if intelligently approached
by native commissioners who take the trouble to
understand these customs and the motives behind
them. Blind action in these matters is rarely
effective.

If the present-day political shibboleth of “ self-
determination ” is to be encouraged in Africa, the policy
of disintegration of all native authority should be
pursued. It is a sure prescription for the birth of a
native party which will speedily demand equal
electoral privileges with the Europeans ; it will abolish
tribal isolation and inter-tribal prejudice which has for
long years been a safeguard against the combination of
the black millions against the few white intruders from
overseas. It will produce a receptive soil for educated
blacks from other countries to propagate the doctrine of
“ Africa for the Africans.” In the event of a struggle,
the European, having sole control of munitions, will not
eventually be worsted, but he will not re-establish
domination until much blood, both black and white, has
been spilled, and both sides will emerge from the
struggle with bitterness and distrust. The choice of a
policy is therefore a vital matter to all, and the problem
should be dispassionately considered.

After the Armistice large numbers of natives who
had served in the King’s African Rifles were disbanded,
and some people maintain that these men in future may

T

290 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

prove a menace owing to their knowledge of arms and
their close acquaintance with European troops in the
field. In Kenya there is, as far as I know, no signs
of it, for they have no arms ; they are moreover weary of
war, and the majority have gone back to their reserves
to spend their savings or invest them in wives. In
Tanganyika a good many arms were secreted by
deserters and picked up after engagements, and these
may be used to some extent in attempts to settle inter-
tribal feuds ; there is, however, little fear of the con-
centration of any force in opposition to Government.
In fact our rule is so mild compared with the German
regime that when the internal prosperity of that country
revives there is no reason to anticipate anything but
peace for a long time to come. When one realises that
over eight thousand official floggings per annum took
place in German East Africa before the war, and in
addition many thousands of unofficial floggings, no
record of which was kept, the relief must be apparent
to all. The Germans themselves must have realised
that the flogging propensity had to be checked, for in
1912-1913 no fewer than one hundred and seven
employers were convicted of assaulting their labourers.
Needless to say, under British rule, flogging is only
inflicted for a few extremely serious crimes.

It is, however, fruitless at this stage to dilate upon
the differences between German and British rule ; it is
far more important to consider the factors on both sides
that count in the present situation and to outline any
obvious future dangers.

The question of religion is intimately connected with
behaviour, and an attempt has been made in this work
to show how closely interwoven with their life are
the primitive beliefs of the people. In recent years,
however, a new set of influences have arisen, viz.,
those of the Christian churches and also Moham-
medanism.

The Christian missions are very varied ; there are
the Roman Catholic, and Church of England faiths,

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 291

Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, also a loosely knit
group of nonconformist type known as the Inland
African Mission and others.

To obviate undue competition in any particular
area, Government has in Kenya Colony agreed to
spheres of influence being arranged between the various
mission groups, and withholds approval of the establish-
ment of a new mission too near an already established
rival. The only argument in favour of this practice is
expediency, for on ethical grounds the State has no
right to decide that the people of any particular area
shall only have ready access to the doctrines of any
particular church.

The Roman Catholic missions, as is often the case,
have acquired more land than any other religious body,
and there is a marked tendency on their part to attempt
to set up imferia in impeno on their estates on the
plea of internal discipline, thus usurping to some extent
the rights of government. It will be remembered that
in the early days in Uganda this led to armed struggles
between Catholics and Protestants ; such, however, are
unlikely to recur under modern conditions.

The Catholics have perhaps more than any other
mission suffered from, shortness of funds since the
expulsion of the religious orders from France, and up
country in Africa they generally endeavour to grow
coffee or some other crop to help to support the mission ;
such efforts are praiseworthy and useful in the educa-
tional sense. They are a great contrast, for instance,
to the neglected estate of the C.M.S. at Freretown.

The missionaries, taking it all round, have in spite
of unrivalled facilities contributed but little to our
knowledge of the country; but they have, it is true,
recorded the construction of various native languages.
With one notable exception in Uganda, who, in spite
of discouragement from his fellows, persisted in his
researches, no missionary in East Africa has thrown
much light on the ethnology of the natives ; it is said
that they have been inclined to consider researches of

292 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

this nature as somewhat irreligious, but this view has,
it is believed, died away.

Upon the plea of combating the spread of
Mohammedanism, the missions have, except at the
coast, declined to teach the Swahili language, which is
the lingua franca of East Central Africa, and have
perpetuated and are still endeavouring to perpetuate
a host of tribal languages, which, although interesting
as linguistic curiosities, prove a barrier to civilisation
and progress. It may be, of course, that English will
on this account come into general use quicker, but that
result, if it comes, will not be due to the missions.

The main qualification for a missionary in Africa
appears to be what they term “ earnestness,” but it is
to be feared that the possession of this admirable trait
is an inadequate equipment for the task of regenerat-
ing the black. It is to be regretted that there are not
a greater percentage of scholarly men with liberal ideas
among their numbers. It is not to be inferred that such
men are absent; it would, however, be invidious to
mention names ; there is a leaven of men of wide vision,
and the missionaries as a whole afford examples of
purity of life which cannot fail to have a good moral
effect.

This short review of the missionary position may
seem beside the point, but the character of the influ-
ences which affect the native are of no little importance.

The missions all claim to play a great part in the
education of the natives, and the local government
has, through paucity of funds, found it convenient to
acquiesce in this claim, and to a great extent leaves
native education to mission effort. The results leave
much to be desired, and naturally the primary mission
ideal of education is to impart to the native a sufficient
knowledge of reading and writing to enable him to
read such portion of the scriptures as have been trans-
lated into the vernacular of the tribe.

Very few missionaries understand the philosophy of
education; very few even have much knowledge of

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 293

educational method. As a brilliant educationalist has
written, “ the function of education is to foster growth ”
— the aim of the teacher should be “ the development of
the latent powers of his pupil, the unfolding; of the
latent life.”

Are the blacks in Kenya Colony receiving an edu-
cation of this nature.^ The answer is, it is feared,
generally in the negative. Now the character of the
education of the black is going to have a profound effect
on his future and also on the relations of black and
white. This is a truism, and as Dudley Kidd has so
forcibly put it, “ The problem is the progress of a back-
ward race, and we allow inefficient teachers, whose only
qualification for the difficult work is their own kind
hearts, to form the character of the rising generation
and to complicate our difficulties — has any State the
right to allow unqualified people to intensify national
problems in this gratuitous fashion? ”

It is not to be inferred that missionary educational
effort is mischievous. Far from it; but it is narrow in
its outlook, it is not based on any sound foundation,
and it does very little to develop latent powers.

The colonists do not, as a rule, favour literary edu-
cation, but clamour mainly for industrial education.
There is a germ of truth in this opinion, but a sense of
proportion must be exercised or the industrial market
may be flooded with artisans of mediocre efficiency far
in excess of the demand. The great role of the
African in the future must be, as it has been in the past,
the cultivation of the soil. Improve his agricultural
methods and teach him to extract more food per acre
to feed the future increase of the native population and
still have something to sell.

Mohammedanism needs a reference, for it is a factor
of no mean importance in Africa. Some students of
extreme views picture the growth of a pan-Islamic
spirit which will bind all the blacks against the
Europeans; and missionary publications often refer
to this as an imminent danger possibly with the object

294 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

of eliciting financial support for Christian propaganda.
The writer has no such fears. Mohammedanism is
spreading to a limited extent in East Africa, but there
is little religious fervour behind it, and it is difficult to
see how it can ever become more than a veneer with
the up-country tribes, for it is certain that they will
never learn Arabic in order to be able to enjoy the
Koran.

Among the up-country people who come into
intimate contact with Mohammedan life, such as those
who come to coast towns to work, it is readily embraced,
for it becomes the religion of the cooking pot. The
Swahilis and such like are hospitable folk, but may not
eat 'with unbelievers, and it is therefore very expedient
for an up-country stranger to become nominally a
Mohammedan, for he may then dip his finger in the food
bowl with his hosts.

Apart from this, however, there is no doubt that the
easy doctrines of Islam appeal to the African; they
are suited to his temperament, and more important still,
Islamism is not looked upon as an alien religion, for
although the Arabs are few, the Swahilis, who form the
greater number of the followers of Islam in the country,
are only Africans who are a little more civilised and
better clothed than their cousins from up-country, while
Christianity is always associated with the coming of the
Europeans and with their domination of the country.

Although for many reasons Mohammedanism
appears more suited to the black than Christianity — it
is a ceremonial religion and it moreover countenances
polygamy — nevertheless, it is inadvisable that the State
should in any way foster its progress in our African
colonies, for it contains many dangerous elements.
The Mohammedanism of East Africa is a mild variety,
but there is much inflammable material lying about in
the Mohammedan world, and it might at any time be
blown over to that area. Mohammedanism, too, has
a reactionary influence ; it stunts cultural development
and it appears to be insusceptible to internal evolution.

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 295

On these grounds it would appear expedient that
the bias of the State should be in favour of the eventual
spread of Christianity, for it is a religion of a higher
ethical type. It is the religion of the Western world,
and although its spiritual progress has been hampered
by an extraordinary mass of mediaeval accretions in
the shape of dogma, ritual and such like, there are
signs that it is endeavouring to eliminate non-essentials
and adjust itself to the plane of modern thought. The
progress is slow but it has to such a great extent lost its
authority and its influence over the people as a mass,
that if it wishes to survive it must adjust itself to the
age it serves and endeavour to carry mankind a step
further in the way of spiritual evolution. As for faith,
faith is common to and alike in all religons — faith is
the vital spark without which no religion can live or
can ever become a vital force — be it a highly developed
creed of the West or a lowly primitive type such as we
have been considering. Faith evades ail logic, and
even the higher criticism of advanced clerics leaves it
untouched.

During recent years the rapid internal develop-
ment of East Africa has produced an acute situation
with regard to native labour, and although, owing to
the present economic depression, this is relieved for the
moment, it is bound to recur as trade improves and pro-
duction increases. The supply of labour has vastly
increased during the last ten years, but up to the out-
break of war the amount but rarely kept pace with the
demand, and the loss of native life during the German
East campaign was so heavy that if the pre-war demand
had been maintained there would have been a general
shortage ; a few years of restricted demand will there-
fore give a little breathing space, and a number of
youths who were not old enough for military service
will become old enough to go out and seek work.

Among a certain section of people in England
whose knowledge of the colonies is somewhat vague,
and whose outlook is tinged with sentimental philan-

296 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

thropy, the employment of blacks as agricultural
labourers or industrial workers by British colonists is
looked upon with suspicion and as being little removed
from slavery. It is apparently based on the belief that
such labour is forcibly seized, badly treated and paid
only a nominal wage. Ill-informed criticism is gener-
ally faulty, and in the present instance it is parti-
cularly so. Twenty years ago the up-country natives
were, generally speaking, reluctant to work for private
Europeans or for Government, except occasionally to
carry loads; as settlement, however, proceeded the
demand for farm labour arose, the needs of the native
gradually increased, and a few rupees had annually to
be earned to pay the hut tax ; as these stimuli became
felt, so native labour gradually became available.
Every year up to the war the supply increased, and
more and more natives became accustomed to the idea
of working for wages several months in the year. Is this
desirable, and if so, why.^ In the old days, before
European occupation of the country, the able-bodied
male population had to be always ready to repel raids or
participate in raids, and in times of peace its main duty
was the herding and guarding of the tribal cattle. The
danger of attack ceased with the advent of settled
government, and if the younger men of the tribe do
not go out to work, they spend the bulk of their time
loafing from village to village attending beer feasts and
philandering with the young girls ; for tribal custom
insists that the bulk of the agricultural work shall as
formerly be done by the woman.

The elders do not approve of the present habits of
the youths, but unfortunately under our rule the bonds
of tribal discipline have been relaxed. If this is fully
realised it will readily be seen that the absence of a
considerable portion of these young men for a part of
each year is beneficial to the good order of a native
reserve ; they are under discipline when working, they
learn something, and come back to their villages with
money which enriches the tribe.

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 297

On the majority of plantations and farms the
natives are well treated, and it is the duty of Govern-
ment to see that they are well housed, well fed, and that
any grievances are speedily redressed ; inspectors
periodically visit employees for this purpose. Ill treat-
ment has occurred from time to time, and isolated cases
of brutality on the part of employers have unfortunately
happened and have been punished by the courts. Such
cases should, however, not be allowed to cloud our
vision or distort our sense of proportion any more than
the occurrence of a few cases of cruelty to children in
England.

As regards wages, the rates are such that have
naturally grown up in the country with due regard to
the cost of food, the usual village diet of the labourers,
and the cost of his simple clothing. It must also be
borne in mind that the output of an African is very
minute compared with a European, and the supervision
required is vastly greater.

A recent petition to the home government headed
by prelates, labour representatives, and various well-
meaning people took rather an extreme view, and urged
the adoption of a policy entirely native in its outlook,
and one which would result in crushing European
endeavour in this part of Africa.

One important plank in the policy was the founda-
tion of native industries in the reserves, and so forth.
Every well-wisher of the native wishes to see progress
in the reserves, but intimate knowledge of the cultural
plane of the aboriginal population causes one to realise
clearly how easy it is to formulate dicta in London, and
how difficult it is to carry them out in Africa.

The individual planting of agricultural products in
reserves by the medium of the African hoe, and the
labour of the African woman, is an uneconomical form
of production, and once the food supply of the tribe is
assured, the surplus enriches the Indian middle man
more than the native. Long established custom rules
that the agricultural work in a tribe shall be carried out

298 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

by the women, and no ordinance will force the young
men to relieve the women of this duty if they do not
desire to do so.

Native progress proceeds slowly, and the stimulus
for acceleration must come from within if it is to be
permanent.

Then again with regard to native industries —
conditions of life can be gradually improved, and the
people can be taught to build better houses, and to use
furniture. The majority, however, cannot afford such
luxuries, and are contented with their own mode of
life; their idea of saving money being to provide the
^ means to buy live stock, the possession of which is
essential for wife purchase.

The renaissance again must come from within. It
will come gradually, but not nearly so soon as our
benevolent friends hope and desire.

To sum up this brief survey of a complex question,
it is desired to impress upon all that the future of the
African native and the nature of his relations with
the white race will not be decided by the academic
recommendations of any body in England. The
utmost that philanthropically minded opinion can
demand is a high ethical standard in native administra-
tion, and the safeguarding by government of native
land rights. Further, the well-meaning people at
home must trust their own people in Africa, trust to
the growth of a tolerant and humane local view of the
relationship of black and white. There is no reason
to believe that this spirit will not reach as high a level
in East Africa as it has done in other parts of our
Empire.

Further, as Lord Buxton recently remarked in an
address on native problems, and referring to the
government of the Union of South Africa and
Rhodesia: “ Especially do they resent criticism when
those who criticise put on a self-righteous air and
assume that they and their associates alone have the
welfare of the native at heart, and imply that those

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 299

who differ are actuated by obstinate or unworthy
motives.”

The main points in native policy which long
experience of Africa suggest may be stated as
follows :

(1) The old tribal discipline and organisation is
in danger of dissolution; it rarely rested on very firm
foundations, for the authorities were weak; it should
receive most careful review by experienced men of
knowledge and sympathy, tribe by tribe. The
situation is at present drifting, and neither black nor
white can see whither.

There is one thing, however, which is obvious, and
that is that the new generation of native leaders
should be educated by Government to fit them for their
duties. Such a step would be widely appreciated and
might do a great deal to avert future danger. Their
education should, above all, concern itself with the
formation of character and the development of respon-
sibility; education seems to so rarely provide the
African with these essentials, in fact their vital import-
ance seems to be often overlooked.

(2) The taxation collected from natives by the
State for general purposes should be low, and any
addition to the standard tax which may be collectable
as the wealth of the natives increases should be devoted
to specific objects, such as native education, the
development of the reserves and such like. The
natives should clearly understand this, and it would
do a great deal to improve the relations of the Govern-
ment with the native, for there is at present a well-
founded belief in the native mind that they are periodi-
cally called upon to pay more and at the same time
get but little return for their money; confidence in
Government has perceptibly lessened in the last few
years.

(3) The excessive infantile mortality in native
reserves should receive specific attention, and also the
checking of disease generally. On economic grounds

300 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

alone, epidemics among the native population are
far more important than those among cattle; it is
feared, however, that up to now they have not
received as much attention, and the reason is not far
to seek.

Effective measures will entail the training of
a considerable staff of native subordinate medical
staff who should be distributed throughout the
reserves, each group being under a European medical
officer.

(4) As has been previously stated, the more
dangerous elements of the native population are in the
towns; for it is there that the restraining influence of
the chiefs and elders is absent, it is there that crime
is more prevalent, it is there that undesirable political
movements are bred and where more educated material
can be found ; a fertile soil for the seditious seed of the
Asiatic agitation. Common sense therefore suggests
that special efforts be made to reach these mixed
assemblages of native life by the provision of suitable
educational facilities and by the provision of healthy
amusement and entertainment, by evening lectures in
subjects both interesting and instructive, by an amusing
and healthy native press.

Needless to say, better housing in town locations
is an important matter if these people are to be taught
to live decent, respectable lives ; baths and places for
washing clothes are also essential for health and well-
being.

(5) Abrupt interference with native customs and
tribal laws is to be deprecated; much of the old codes
is good, and undesirable features can, with the consent
of the people, gradually be eliminated, if the guiding
hand applies his reforming touch with judgment ; and
this brings us to the necessity for the careful selection
of administrative officers and the importance of these
being trained in ethnological method, for no man can
reform and develop a system of which he is not
qualified to judge.

EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR 301

Greater knowledge of native psychology will help
to maintain the paternal relations which should exist
between the natives of a district and their commissioner,
and to which the most successful native administrators
in the past owe their success.

(6) Education. This is essential, but, as has been
explained, matters are not satisfactory at present, nor
will they improve much until Government takes it over
into its own hands, and it should begin by the forma-
tion of a well-equipped normal school wherein a large
staff of native teachers should be trained by a picked
European staff.

A boarding school should also be founded in each
province where an effective industrial training can be
given to a number of picked youths, and in conjunction
with a sound rudimentary education.

The African is a receptive person, but has little
persistence, and is apt to become weary before he is
efficient. There are altogether too many young men
about with a mere smattering of education which is
nothing more than a surface veneer, and is often used
as an excuse for escaping manual labour ; this spirit
needs to be vigorously combated. Very few natives
leave the mission schools with anything more than this
surface veneer of education, the outward sign of which
is a passion for khaki coats, boots, collars and ties,
and in this way they ape the European. This may
appear ridiculous at present, but there is one thing
certain and that is that a renaissance has now begun,
and we must in the future be prepared for curious mani-
festations of the aspiration for self-realisation on the
part of the African. The true art of government,
therefore, will be to utilise with wisdom any real signs
of their desire to rise to a higher cultural and social
plane. The way will not be easy, but much can be
attained by wide sympathy and by knowledge of the
psychology of the subject.

It must never be forgotten that in a colony of the
East African type the European colonist and the

802 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

native are interdependent. Due consideration and
justice for the backward partner must be the keynote
of the native policy, for a contented, friendly black
population will connote a healthy and prosperous white
community.

L’ENVOI

The student of anthropology is urged to be precise
and accurate in his record of facts, and the haunting
fear of giving rein to the imaginative side, especially
when dealing with beliefs which have almost ceased to
evoke response from Western races, often tends to
make one’s narrative seem dull and lifeless.

The poet is bound by no such paltry conventions,
but it is rare to find one who strikes the true note —
intimate knowledge coupled with acute insight.

The late Captain Cullen Gouldsbury of Rhodesian
repute possessed this rare gift, and the writer takes the
liberty of reproducing the following poem as a remark-
able and unique attempt to express the native point of
view:

The Point of View

From Songs out of Exile by Cullen Gouldsbury
{Fisher Unwin, 1912)

White man, cease from your tales— -your God may be good
for you,

But think you that aught avails to fashion our creed anew ?
We, who are born and bred in the fear of ’Mlimo’s wrath.
Heirs to eternal dread shall we cast our Witchmen forth
To take as a load instead the creed of ye from the North?

Lo ! we are bom in the fear of wild and unspeakable things ;
Born in the Bush land here, where the souls of the dead have
wings.

Hovering high in the air where the shades of even fall,
Shrinking in dim despair at the gate of each lonely kraal —
Scoff not, white man ! beware, when the ghosts of the dead
men call.

303

304 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

There are Spirits that walk by night with their heads behind
their backs —

There are Spirits that fade from sight in the gloom of the
forest tracks;

There are ghosts of the babes that died in the kraal long
moons ago,

Ghosts of cripples that glide with shambling pace and slow,

Ghosts of the new-made bride and of many a girl we know.

Yestereen, when the sun sank low in the western sky,

And silently, one by one, the hovering bats flew by,

Ziwa, pride of my heart, my youngest and best-loved wife.

Drew me a pace apart, saying: “ Husband, ’tis done with
life.

Nay friend, shrink not, nor start! lend me your hunting
knife! ”

Ay! and she lies there dead — and the youths and maidens
mourn.

They bury her, so one said, in the cool of to-morrow’s dawn —

For the evil moor-hens keep a watch on this kraal, I know,

And perch when the world’s asleep, on the hut-tops then
below.

See ! I will kill a sheep to ward off a further blow !

White man, laugh if you will ! such tales are for babes, you
say ?

Have you no God of 111? Do you not cringe and pray?

Offering sacrifice in a temple built of stone ?

Do you not seek advice from a priest man of your own ?

Do you not pay a price ? Are we the heathen alone ?

GLOSSARY

This includes the native names most used in the text.

Dorobo : Masai word (spelt Torobo by Hollis) often
corrupted by travellers to Wandorobo or, Andorobo.
Dorobo in Masai means tsetse fly. The name for an
aboriginal race of hunters who inhabit the great
forests of the highlands in East Africa. They call
themselves Asi and the Kikuyu call them Adzi. The
name of the Athi River is believed to be a corruption
of Adzi.

Engai (Kikuyu) : The deity.

Eithaga: The name of a Kikuyu clan, members of which
are said to possess magical powers; sometimes spelt
Aithaga. A member of this clan is called a Mweithaga.

Gethaka (Kikuyu) : The portion of a ridge in Kikuyu
owned by a particular family, the title to possession of
this being obtained from the Dorobo, the original
occupants of the forest. Some regard it as a freehold
right, others maintain that the Kikuyu only acquired
the right to cut the forest in order to make shambas,
or gardens. The gethaka rights are, however, very resd
possessions in the eyes of the Kikuyu.

Huku (Kikuyu): A mole-like rodent — Tachyorctes sp :

IcHUA (Kikuyu):, A sacriflcial fire.

Imu, singular; aiimu, plural (Kamba) : Ancestral spirits.

Ithembo, singular; mathembo, plural (Kamba):] Sacred
place where sacrifices are carried out.

Ira (Kikuyu) : White diatomaceous earth which is also
used in ceremonial as a purifying agent.

Itwika (Kikuyu) : A periodic ceremony which marks the
termination of a generation or age in the tribe — it cor-
responds in some ways to the Masai Eunoto ceremony.

305 U

306 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Kikuyu: The missionaries now often spell it Gikuyu. A
member of the Kikuyu tribe is called Mu-Kikuyu — plural,
A-Kikuyu. In common parlance, however, if one drops
the prefixes and refers to a man of this tribe as a
Kikuyu (native) — the latter word being widely under-
stood, it is simpler than attaching the appropriate prefix.
An upland tribe in Kenya Colony extending from near
Nairobi to Mount Kenya.

Kamba: Mu-Kamba is the singular; A-Kamba is plural and
collective. In the same way as above, it has become more
usual to simply refer to them as Kamba (native). Their
country is termed Ukamba, and their language
Ki-Kamba. A tribe in Kenya Colony, east of Nairobi.
There are detached portions of the tribe near Mombasa,
near Taveta, and in Tanganyika territory.

Kithangaona (Kikuyu) : Sacred place.

Ku-roga (Kikuyu) verb: To place upon or to bewitch.

Kihe (Kikuyu) : An uncircumcised boy.

Kamwana (Kamba) : An uncircumcised boy.

Kingnoli (Kamba) : Collective killing or execution by the
people of a person convicted of certain serious offences.

Kafara (Swahili) : A charm placed at cross-roads to avert
misfortune. If anyone carries it away it is believed that
the misfortune or disease will be carried with it.

Kirume (Kikuyu) : The dying curse which can be suspended
over his descendants by a dying man.

Kiume (Kamba) : The dying curse which can be suspended
over his descendants by a dying man.

Konono (Masai) : A clan of serfs believed to be of alien race
who live among the Masai and who are the smiths to the
tribe. They correspond to the Tumal of the Somalis.

Kita (Kikuyu) : The power of the evil eye.

Kiama (Kikuyu) : Council of elders.

Mwanake, singular ; anake, plural (Kikuyu) : Warrior class.

Mutumia, singular; atumia, plural (Kamba) :’ Tribal elders.

Muthuri, singular; athuri, plural (Kikuyu): Athuri ya
Ukuru — the senior elders.

Mumo (Kamba) : Sacred fig free.

GLOSSARY

307

Mugumu (Kikuyu) : Sacred fig tree, often called muti wa
Engai.

Makwa (Kamba) : Afflicted by a curse. See thabu.

Mwati, singular; miati, plural (Kikuyu): A young ewe
which has not borne a lamb.

Miatini (Kamba) : The fruit of Kigelia musa or Kigelia
pinnata — used for fermenting beer.

Mulungu (Kamba) The deity.

Mathamaki, singular; azamaki or athamaki, plural (Kikuyu) :
An elder of council; his official title, not his grade rank.

Muturi, singular; aturi, plural (Kikuyu) : A smith.

Mundu Hugo (Kikuyu) ; Medicine man.

Murogi (Kikuyu) : Medicine man who deals in black magic.

Muburi (Kikuyu) : Goat.

Ngoma (Kikuyu) : Ancestral spirit.

Ngoma (Swahili) : A dance. This word is also widely used
by up-country natives.

Njele (Swahili) : A half gourd used as a domestic utensil for
drinking water, gruel or milk.

Nzeli or NZELE (Kamba) : A half gourd used as a domestic
utensil for drinking water, gruel or milk.

Nthele, singular; anthele, plural (Kamba) Young married
man.

Ndorume (Kikuyu) : A ram, a favourite form of sacrifice.

Ngnondu (Kikuyu) : A ewe, which is also used as a sacrifice
on certain occasions.

Ngunga (Kikuyu) : Caterpillars.

Njohi (Kikuyu) ; Native beer, usually made from sugar cane.

Nzama (Kamba) : Council of elders.

Njama (Kikuyu): A consultation by the elders; the proceed-
ings are generally secret.

Rika (Kikuyu) : Generation — age grade.

Rathi (Swahili) : Happiness, blessing — generally used of a
formal blessing. Kuwarathi — to be satisfied or content
with.

808 BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC

Rukwaru (Kikuyu) : A strip of goat skin bound on the waist
of a person to signify that he has duly performed a certain
ceremony.

Ruenji (Kikuyu):! A razor.

Ruoro (Kikuyu) : Knife used for branding cattle.

Shamba, singular ; ma-shamba, plural (Swahili) : Cultivated
field or garden, widely used by up-country Africans.

Ku-tahikia (Kikuyu), verb : To purify. Ku is the infinitive
prefix common to all verbs.

Thabu (Kamba) : A curse or afflicted by a curse — a condition
which is the result of certain acts, analogous to some
forms of tabu.

Thahu (Kikuyu) : A curse or. afflicted by a curse — a condition
which is the result of certain acts, analogous to some
forms of tabu.

Thengira (Kikuyu) : Literally the goat hut. It is synony-
mous with the hut in which the unmarried men sleep.

Thomi (Kamba) : Open meeting place outside every village.

Tatha (Kikuyu) : The semi-digested vegetable matter which
forms the contents of a sheep or goat. When, an animal
is sacrificed this is used as a purifying agent to remove
evil. In Kamba language called muyo.

Uji (Swahili) : Gruel — also widely used by East Africa Bantu
tribes. Uji is usually made of maize or millet meal.

Uki (Kamba) : Beer, especially mead, made from honey, but
the word is used for all beer.

INDEX

Adoption into new clan,
250

Aithiagreni, 178
Ambui, 178

Ancestral spirits, 27, 50
Anjiru, 173, 177, 184, 231,
248

Ankole, 20

Anzuzu, 174

Asi, 121, 167, 186

Assyrian beliefs, 27, 29, 30

Atui, 174

Ba-HiMA or Ba-Huma tribe,
20

Bead, oath of the sacred,
241

Beech, Mr, 125
Bee-keeping-, 251
Birth, superstitions regard-
ing, 154

Blessing by medicine man,

137

Blessing and purification in
Kikuyu, 134
Blood brotherhood, 249
Brutzer, Rev., 24
Bull, dedication of, 140
Bull roarer, 37
Burial ceremonies, Kikuyu,
98-101

, Ukamba, loi, 102

Buxton, Lord, 298

CiESAR on the Druids, 228
Carriers, loss of, in war, 287
Celibacy, 42
Chania, 34, 93, 269
Charms, 194
Chera, 177

Chyulu Mountains, 263
Circumcision ceremonial, 77
et seq.

Compensation for murder,
loss of, 230 et seq.
Councils, working of, 209
et seq.

Councils, working of, among
Kamba, 219

Crops, planting of, 75, 140
Curse, the dying, 145

Dances, Kikuyu, 266 et seq.
Death ceremonial, 97 et seq.
Desertion from employer,
causes of, 283
Dogilani Masai, 93
Dorobo, loi, 121, 146, 167,
186, 244, 253
Druids, functions of, 228
Du Cros, Miss, 5
Dundas, Hon. C., s, 29, 62,
88, 128, 132, 142, IS5, 179,
186, 207, 237, 25s, 257
Dundas, Hon. K., 88, 89,
225

Eclipses, 259

Eithaga, 165, 173, 179, 180,
181, 182, 183

Elders, curse for dis-
obedience of, 226

, duty of, 221

• , partial immunity of

from thahu, 127

of the shrine, 225

EJgeyo, 21
El-Konono, 167
Emberre, 246
Enjabini, 253
Eombi, 174

Exorcism of dying curse, 151
Evil eye, 177

Famine, 1900, 38
Fertility ceremony, 76
Fig tree, sacred, 52
Fire, extinction of in a hut,
133

, legend regarding

origin of, 264

, making of, 68

Firstfruits of harvest, 74

810

INDEX

Flog-g-ing- in G.E.A., 2go
Food ceremonial, Kikuyu,

25g

Food, Kamba, 2sg
Forestj protection of by
mag-ic, 183
Fort Hall, 271

Frazer, Sir J. G., 3, 32, 152
Freer, Goodrich, 258
Freretown, 2gi

Gachii wa Kihara, 231, 233,
246

Gachiko, 167
Gai, 201
Galla, 24s

Generations or ages, 88
Giriama, 276, 278
Gouldsbury, Captain Cullen,

303

Gregory, Professor J. W., 17s

Haddon, Professor, 3
Harvest ceremonial, 74, 75
Hebrew concept of Jahveh,
22

High places, Canaanite, 66
Hoffman, Rev., 26
Hollis, A. C., g3, 178, i7g,
253

Hunter’s magic, ig3
Hyrax in sacrificial cere-
monial, 60, 61

Initiation of elders, 213
Iron, place of origin of
manufacture, 175
Ithanga, 167, 168
Ithonga wa Kaithuma, 88
Itwika ceremony, g2-g6
Iveti Hills, 33, ig8

Jewish ceremonial, 67
Johnston, Sir Harry, 18
Judicial procedure in old
days, 215

Juguna wa Kihara, 231, 233
Juma bim Hamis, 5

Kaboyi wa Kimoino, 1 08
Kalaki’s, g3

Kamba, 6, 7, ig, 21, 23, 24,
26, 27, 28, 2g, 30, 33, 47, 53.
58, 60, 61, 62, 6s, 68, 7g,
loi, 102, iig, 128, i2g, 134,
138, 140, 152, 157. 158, 159.
174, 181, ig2, ig3, igs, ig6.

201, 202, 211, 212, 2ig, 220,
222, 223, 224, 227, 22g, 23g,
240, 241, 245, 246, 251, 255,
258, 25g, 262, 271, 276, 278,

279

Kamiri, 88, 186, 187, 188,
i8g, I go, 244
Kamiti River, 143
Kapotei Masai, g3
Karanja’s, 253
Karanja wa Hiti, 88
Karira’s, i7g
Karuri’s, 38, g3, 170
Kathengi, 3g

Katonyo wa Munene, 88, go,
92

Kavirondo, 3, 2g, 70, 145,
276, 277

Kenya Colony, 105, 132, 144,
155, 26g, 2go, 2gi
Kenya Mount, 63, go, 167
Kibwezi, 33, 34, 68, 75, 263,
263

Kichii, 34
Kichura, 36, 37
Kidd, Dudley, 2g3
Kihara, 231
Kikamba, 76, iq8
Kikira, gs

Kikuyu, 5, 7, ig, 21, 22, 24, 27,
28, 30, 31, 34, 36. 38, 40,

47, 4g, so, 52, 60, 62, 6g,

71. 73. 75, 77. 78. 79. 80,

83. 84. 85. 86, 87, 88, Q2,

93. 95. 97, loi, 102, 103,
104, 105, 106, 107, 108,

log, no, 112, 113, 117, 118,
iig, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125,
126, 127, 128, 132, 133, 137,
142, 144, 145, 149. 151, 152,
153, 154. 155, 157, 158, 159,
165, 167, 170, 172, 173, 174,
177, 179, 182, 183, 186, 187,
188, ig4, 195, 196. 197, 203,
207, 2og, 212, 213, 217, 224,
226, 227, 228, 22g, 230, 231,
233. 236, 237, 241, 242, 243,
244, 245, 246, 247, 250, 251,
253. 25g, 260, 261, 264, 266,
26g, 270, 272, 274, 277, 27Q,
283

Kilui Lake, 262, 263
Kimani wa Nyaga, 167
Kinanjui, 38, 94. 106
King’s African Rifles, 289
Kingnoli custom, 237
Kirawa, 34
Kiriri, 179
Kithege, 189, 190

INDEX

311

Kithito of Ukamba, 230
Kitui, 29, 30, 35, 53, 60, 62,
66, 76, 79, loi, 102, 138,
140, 158, 159, 174, I7Q, 192,
193. 194, 195, 196, 203, 219,
220, 225, 237, 248, 249, 252,
25s, 256, 258, 259, 271
Knots as magic, 195
Kyambu, 144, 155, 187, 267,
271

Labour, native, 295, 296, 297
Lako, 21

Legends, 262 et seg_.

Limoru, 38
Lorigi, 87, 88
Lumbwa, 21
Lunar changes, 259

Machakos, 33, 174, 192, 198,

220, 239, 255, 271

■Magic against burglars, 192
for hunters, 193

for sterility, 196

, Kikuyu, 184

— — for use in war, 116, 196

for rain, 192

Magicians, 184, 186
Mahomedanism, 292, 293, 294
Maina, 88, 89, 92, 94, 187, 212
Mambura ceremonies, 83
Mania, infectious, among the
Kamba, 255 et seq.
Marraro, Chief, 195
Masai, 21, 38, 59, 77, 78, 80,
83, 85, 86, 87, 93, 99. 100,
105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 1 12,
113, 117, 121, 123, 124, 149,
167, 170, 173, 178, 181, 186,

221, 233, 244, 245, 246, 276
Mathari, 80
Mathendu’s, 239
Mbagathi River, 38, 69
Mbatha, 157

Medicine for snake bite, 203
Mimi wa Ruchu, 93
Mission work, 291
Mkone wa Ndawa, 179
Monge wa Muli, 258
Mukuria wa Mucheru, 88
Muli, 258
Muma oath, 243
Mumia, 71

Mumoni, 201, 239, 246
Murder, laws relating to, 230
Mwaitume, 233
Mwangi, 88, 89, 92, 94, 187,
212

Mwanziu, 179

Mweithaga, 173, 179, 180,

181, 182, 183

Nandarua Mountain, 179
Nandi, 21

Names among Kikuyu, 260
Ngenda Mission, 156
Ngong Mt. , 186
Njau wa Kabocha, 40, 184,
185, 186
Nyanza, 3
Nzoia River, 71

Oaths, ceremonial, 239 et seq.
Oggiek, 21

Old Testament, 23, 30, 43,
45. 46, 55. 60, 61, 64, 73.
141, 142, 179, 190, 221
Old women, fear of, 195
Oracle, a Kikuyu, 36
Orders of council, enforce-
ment of, 223
Osborne, G. H., 5, 198

Peace ceremonial, 247
Prayers for crops, 140
Pregnant animals, slaughter
of, 258

Purification and blessing, 134
Purification sacrifice of goat,
130

Purification sacrifice for a
village, 138
Purko Masai, 93

Rain magic, 192
Regeneration, Ukamba, 159
Ridgeway, Sir W., 3, 176
Rika of the A-Kikuyu, 89,
90, 91, 266

Robinson, Phil, “ Indian
Garden,” 65

Routledge, Mr, 48, 03, 168,
269, 271, 272
Ruaraka, 34 ,

Ruiru River, 132

Saba Saba River, 179
Sabaeans, 20
Sacred places, 58

and sacrifices, 61

Sacred stones, 69
Sacrifice, 40 et seq.

, private, 48

to ancestral spirits, 50

at sacred tree, 52

— — for rain, 60
, purification, 138, 139

312

INDEX

Sanctuary, 47
Savei of Elg-on, 21
Scapegoat, 34
Scholefield, S. W. J., 5
Seligman, Dr, 20
Semitic beliefs, 21, 22, 28,
34, 61, 237

Seventh day, ill-luck of, 125
Shrine, village, 6g et seq.
Siekitundumu, 257, 258
Smith, Professor Robertson,
6, 20, 66, 73, 165, 237
Smiths and their magic,
Kikuyu, 168-173

, Ukamba, 174-S

Snake bites, inoculation
against, ig8

, medicine, 203

Spirit worship, miscellaneous,
34

Sterility, magical remedies
for, 196

Swahili, 145, 186, 286, 294

Taboo or tabu, 23

Tabu, effects of breaking a,

134

Tana Valley, 132
Tanganyika, 290
Thabu or curse in Ukamba,
127

Thahu, list of in Kikuyu,
106-126

or the curse, 103 et seq.

and thahu, 142

Thaka or Tharaka, 132, 239
Thembigwa, 34

Tharaka tribe, the curs^
amongst, 132
Thigiri, 80

Thika River, 34, 69, 93
Thtrapson, R. C., 6, 29
Tingmanga, 93
Tree spirits, 31
Twins, birth of, 155

Uganda, 20, 278, 279, 291
Ukamba, 3, s, 22, 30, 33, 39,
56, s8, 60, 74, 75. 76, 82,
127, 128, 134, 142, 145, 152,
IS3, i6s, 174, 179. 192, 194,
198, 223, 225, 227, 228, 230,
234, 237, 239, 248, 249, 2S5.
276, 279

Ulu, 76, loi, 157, 158, 159,
160, 196, 225, 252
Unyoro, 20

Waita wa Mathendu, 198
Wanga, 71
Wangnendu, 37
War and peace, 244
War medicine, 196
Women, superstitions regard-
ing, IS4 et seq..

, taboos on, and pro-
hibitions, 160, 161

, old, fears of, 195

as a factor in the tribe,

274 et seq.

Yezidis of Mesopotamia, 28

Printed for Messrs. H. F. G. Witkerhy by tke
Nertkumbsrland Press, Ltd., Newcastk-en-Tyne.

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